Path to Godhood
by VexMaster
Summary: A psychopathic nerd is given a strange and terrible power to enter the Warhammer 40K realm at will and to manipulate the world around him. What will he become? What terrible evil shall he let loose upon these many worlds? What horrors shall he invoke?
1. Chapter 1

This is a new story that I may continue or not... but it's darker than anything I've written so far.

Disclaimer: Warhammer 40K and any associated materials belongs to Games Workshop, except for my original characters.

PPS: 'Path to Godhood' remain WH40K + normal world, with the 'chance' for Arthur to cross over later

* * *

**Path to Godhood**

* * *

**Chapter 1**

**Milky Way Galaxy**

**Ultima Segmentum **

**Verevian Subsector**

**Iridus System**

"AAAAARGH!"

A deafening roar was heard as the Chaos Lord's Power Sword skewered the last of the defenders in the chest before the huge Chaos Astartes flung the corpse of the ship's captain to the wall, where the impact splattered the corpse into many smaller pieces mixed with blood that now ran cold.

"How did it come to this? Everything was going right! That damned daemon shall pay for this treachery! Argh!"

Further enraged, the Chaos Lord rushed toward a cowering Cultist and split the poor creature in two with his corrupted Power Sword that glowed in crackling crimson. Yet, not satisfied with the slaughter, he turned to the remaining Chaos Space Marines of his warband. The Chaos Sorcerer and eight Chaos Marines were neither brave enough to powerful enough to challenge the hulking form of their Chaos Lord, whose power still overwhelmed them despite the near absolute destruction of his warband.

"My precious warband has been destroyed, and you did not have the wits to see it beforehand!"

At the outrageous demand of the Chaos Lord, the Sorcerer Varhir spoke up.

"My lord Kha'lath, the Warp is a fickle thing, and even though we are blessed by Tzeentch's graces, he is a very fickle god. None could have foreseen that the Bloodthirster would be defeated so easily, and with that in mind, none could have foreseen that the Keeper of Secrets would turn on us instead of attacking the Loyalists."

At the words of his most trusted Sorcerer, the Chaos Lord Kha'lath calmed down. He was a mighty Chaos Lord of a powerful Chaos warband 'Sons of Horror'. Merely six hours ago, he was striding confidently upon the scorched fields of the planet Iridus, a once verdant Cardinal World of the hated Imperium that now saw a bloody action between a dozen Chaos warbands invading and the Loyalists defending the planet.

Lord Kha'lath arrived upon Iridus on his mighty Slaughter-Class Cruiser 'Rage of Hatred' with over eighty Chaos Marines including a dozen Noise Marines, a half dozen Khorne Berserkers, two Predators and a Rhino, nearly a thousand Bloodletters bound by powerful sorcery and over seven thousand well-armed Cultists. Such was his might that the Chaos forces that had been assailing the system for the past year had accepted him gladly.

Seeing his fellow Chaos Lords struggling against a measly force composed of a single company of Loyalist Astartes, as many Sisters of Battle and three well-entrenched Imperial Guard Regiments, Lord Kha'lath ordered immediate bombardment of the enemy positions using his ship's deadly weapons before the surviving Imperial Fleet chased his ship to the other side of the solar system.

Yet, broken by the suddenly orbital bombardment, one of the Imperial Guard Regiments lost its morale, and crumbled before the Chaos assault. When a dam gains a small crack, that is enough to bring down the whole dam, and thus the fall of one Regiment had become a precursor to the fall of others. So great was the carnage, that one of the other Warbands somehow managed to summon forth a mighty Bloodthirster of Khorne. Aided by such awe-inspiring agent of the Chaos Gods, the Chaos warbands pressed their attacks against the enemy positions, capturing a dozen walled towns and a major city.

The Loyalist Astartes was reduced to half-strength, the Sisters of Battle were also greatly depleted, and the last Regiment of the Imperial Guards fell back to the Imperial Bastion built around the shrine that the Chaos forces wanted to ransack and loot before destroying it. None of the Chaos warbands thought they would lose. Another warband, of Slaanesh, had summoned another Greater Daemon, and with the aid both the Bloodthirster and the Keeper of Secrets, the Chaos forces made a final and fatal attack on the bastion.

It was a complete surprise when a fleet of Imperial ships arrived right above the battle and rained down death. A Tyrant-Class Cruiser, four Cobra-Class Destroyers and a single Astartes Strike Cruiser of the Dark Angels arrived above and they fired their devastating attacks against the forces of Chaos. It was too late to realise that the Chaos fleet had been destroyed. Before the forces of Chaos could regroup, the Strike Cruiser rained down Drop Pods while the Imperial Fleet sent down many Marauder Bombers and Valkyries full of Storm Troopers. Even so, the Chaos forces had two Greater Daemons on their side.

The Bloodthirster swung its mighty axe back and forth, destroying many of the Imperial Guard's vehicles and commanders, including the lone Dreadnought of the Hospitaller's Chapter. The Keeper of Secrets used its deadly blades to cut down the Dark Angels that assailed it while sending forth strange whip to entangle and crash the Valkyries that flew over its head. Then from the Imperial Bastion, a Living Saint rose up and drove its burning spear into the heart of the Bloodthirster, ending the Blood God's daemon in a single stroke. While the horrified and stunned forces of Chaos warbands began to falter, the warband that summoned the Keeper of Secrets had turned their guns against the fellow Chaos forces.

Kha'lath knew that the battle just became a nightmare. Evading the balls of plasma fired by the Dark Angels and dodging the bolter rounds from the treasonous Chaos warband of Slaanesh, he ran from battle. He and his remaining forces immediately headed to the Valkyries that had landed to regurgitate the Imperial Guards. Enraged by the events of the day, Kha'lath and his last remaining warriors tore through the Storm Troopers and Guardsmen, and then boarded the Valkyries. Of the six Valkyries that his forces had stolen, only one other had made it to the nearest Imperial vessel, a Cobra-Class Destroyer.

So focused were the Imperials to the battle at hand against the Greater Daemons, they had not noticed the theft of one of their ships. Kha'lath and his Sorcerers quickly took control of the ship, and fled the scene. Even as they had moved the ship, the crew of the vessel rose up against the forces of Chaos. Taken by surprise, the captain and the crew had temporarily retreated to armouries aboard the vessel, only to return with bolters and lasguns. Dispatching them had been easy, and Kha'lath enjoyed killing the crew before finishing off the captain of the vessel.

"Let us return to the Eye of Terror... I shall rebuild, and I shall have my vengeance."

Yet, such was a difficult task. He now only had nine Chaos Marines left, including the Sorcerer. He also had twenty four Cultists, but now that he had killed one, it was down to twenty three.

"There may be a way, my lord... to empower you so greatly that all manner of dark and terrible creatures shall flock to your banner."

Varhir, the Sorcerers, spoke up. Long ago, he had found an ancient spell that supposedly summoned forth the power of a mighty god-like warrior. He had been itching to try it out, but recent events have disappointed Varhir. The Sorcerer had hoped that the loot of slaves would give him enough sacrifices to cast this spell upon himself. Now, some things in his plan had to change.

In any case, Kha'lath was intrigued, or more accurately, his deranged mind had not caught the scent of danger that hung around Varhir.

"Of what do you speak?"

"An ancient ritual, of great power, that summons forth the power of a god-like warrior and cast it upon another. From the literature upon the scroll, it appears whoever this 'god-like warrior' is, the power is significant. One who could bend the very fabric of reality with mere thoughts... and once given such power, you could unite the forces of Chaos in a Black Crusade of your own."

The snake-like tongue of the Sorcerer was like honey in the ears of the enraged and rattled Chaos Lord. Normally, he would have considered the treacherous nature of the Sorcerer's words, but having lost most of his warband had unhinged him.

"What would this ritual require? I do not have thousands of slaves to sacrifice."

"I am certain that the slaughtered souls of the crew of this ship, should suffice."

The Chaos Lord pondered for a second, then nodded.

"Prepare the ritual."

"First, we should find a safe place to anchor the spell. A planet, or an asteroid... Where we would not be interrupted... Certainly not somewhere inside the Eye of Terror."

The Chaos Lord agreed. In his moments of insanity, he thought that if the like of Abaddon should take this spell and gain such power, then it would be unbearable.

"I think I know a place. A Dead World, where nobody would look for us."

"A Dead World?"

"Yes, a world where an Exterminatus has been carried out over two thousand years ago. It's called Vera III, located near the Maelstrom. It is a formerly prosperous Industrial World, but when the Night Lords assailed it large numbers, the population panicked, and many turned to the worship of Chaos. In return, the Alpha Legion entered the fray, and the whole planet was torn in three factions. The Night Lords, the Alpha Legion and the Imperial Guards."

"If it had been destroyed so long ago, there would be many squatters..."

Kha'lath chuckled darkly.

"There are many worlds that are forgotten, even by the Chaos. Last I heard of it, it was still swallowed by a particularly virulent Warp Storm that kept the planet constantly bombarded by terrible lightning that can obliterate even the daemons."

"Then how are we going to use that world?"

"The lightnings can be blocked by... Void Shield of certain magnitude. Perhaps this vessel's shields can aid us."

The Sorcerer now understood the plans.

"We shall land the ship, and we shall be safe and undisturbed."

"Indeed, and I shall have this power that you offer, Sorcerer."

Varhir quickly made gestures of humble servant.

"As you command, Lord Kha'lath. Once this is done, a billion innocents shall scream your name when your mighty armies shall tear their souls out."

"Yes... yes... That sounds fine."

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**Milky Way Galaxy**

**Sol System**

**Earth**

**USA – LA**

Tap tap tap tap tap... Click click... Taptaptaptaptap...

The typing of keyboard and clicking of mouse was never-ending. Stuck in front of his computer, Arthur Martin sighed as he reached for another sip of coca cola with three cubes of ice. Then he reached out to grab an Oreo only to find the packet empty. He looked down at the packet and the four empty ones beside it.

"Shit!"

That was his third spoken words since the morning. His parents were 'away', and they were 'away' quite often and they were not 'away' together. Arthur knew that his father was probably at 'conference', which probably meant that he was in Hawaii or Miami or some island in Caribbean with his hot blond twenty-year old secretaries. Yes, 'secretaries' with plural.

On the other hand, his mother, a relatively well-known fashion designer slash photographer who married his father for the money, was 'shooting' her latest 'clothing line'. Arthur was smart enough to understand that 'shooting' was having sex with another man, and when she said 'clothing line' it actually meant that she was probably going to sleep three several of her male models.

Arthur thought that if his mother actually focused on designing clothes as much as she enjoyed having sex with models, she could actually be somewhat of a good fashion designer. Not that Arthur particularly wanted her to succeed. That would be quite unbearable. He had no real love for two utter strangers with the tags attached to them as his 'father' and 'mother'. Since he was born, he was mostly alone or with uncaring foreigner nannies, whose subtle abuses had already done all the damage that they could have done.

No one really cared or even noticed that little Arthur exhibited some psychopathic tendencies. The backyard was large enough for Arthur to bury the small animals that he bought with his generous pocket money. Neither his parents nor his nannies even noticed that the boy's pets were being replaced at an alarming rate. Of course, he stopped killing cats after he read the story 'The Cats of Ulthar' by H.P Lovecraft. Instead, his fetish into Lovecraft started, only to end somewhat suddenly when one of his father's British associates bought him a marvellous Christmas gift one winter.

The box of 'Assault on Black Reach', 'Warhammer 40K: 5th Edition Hardcover' and three different Battleforce box sets were delivered to the boy in a large box wrapped with Christmas wrappings. The grim and dark settings of the Warhammer 40K universe had so attracted young Arthur. He particularly enjoyed the Chaos Daemons and Chaos Space Marines. His pocket money were soon diverted to purchasing a lot of Warhammer 40K stuffs.

He was a very smart kid, and had his parents got him tested then he would have scored very high in IQ, perhaps to a genius level. Yet, his obsessions had driven him thus far, and he was very good at things he liked. He purchased everything he needed for painting of his 40K figures, and then found that he was very good at painting them. He soon found himself in one of the spare rooms in the house stacked with his collected armies. An Ultramarine Second Company in all its splendour had resided in one corner while the Orks and Tyranids were on the lower shelves where they took up extra space. The Daemons, the Chaos Space Marines and the Dark Eldar were cared for with extra attention.

What he didn't like, however, were the Chaos Gods and the mutations. He preferred the Night Lords, whose abjuration of direct Chaos worship had kept them pure, and he liked the idea of terrorising others. He often imagined what he would do as a Night Lords Chaos Lord. Oh, how he so desired to wreak terrible havoc upon countless worlds, and driving men insane with fear. His psychopathy had evolved so that he actually felt something at other people's psychological suffering. Indeed, Arthur Martin was one twisted kid.

This did not mean that he was not talented in things. He continued to get high scores throughout his schooling, and he was particularly good at computer programming. It was only last year that he had graduated high school and got into MIT, though his obsessions with WH40K, Lovecraft and other occult things had hindered his academic progress. It was not really that Arthur needed money. His family was still very rich since his father was quite good at business and kept the family money growing.

Arthur's most recent obsessions had been the Dawn of War series, both 1 and 2. He was delighted to find a decent computer game with WH40K setting. Then came Dawn of War 2, a much more graphical game. Arthur immediately purchased extremely powerful computer and played the game, only to be disappointed in the scale, or the lack thereof. So, he began to tamper with things. He was very good with programming after all.

However, Arthur used only one type of cheat during his playing. A generic cheating available online had become Arthur's favourite. Shift + F1 was levelling of the selected unit. Shift + F2 was healing the unit. Shift + F3 made the unit invulnerable. Shift +4 was his favourite, as it killed any unit. There were Ctrl + F1, Ctrl + F2, Ctrl + F3 and others, but they were still not enough to satisfy Arthur's desire to have everything just as he wanted. So he wrote a little program that would allow him to change many things in the game, and with the World Builder, things got easier.

He changed the balances and made new items, and named each item with successively terrible and evil names. He made up his own Chaos Warband, and built them into the game so that he may play his own Warband inside the game. He made it so that units could level up much more than they were originally allowed to do. Of course, each levelling up had only gradually upgraded the unit, but instead of maximum level of 4, the units now could achieve level 50, while the heroes could reach up to level 100. Not only that, he could equip each squad with whatever he wanted equip them with.

Yet, he had no idea that sometimes freaky things happen.

* * *

**End of Chapter 1**


	2. Chapter 2

Well, since I caught cold and thus unable to get out of my house today... I thought I could write another chapter of this...  
Merry Christmas!

This chapter has reference to HP Lovecraft stuff, Lord of the Rings stuff and SG-1... only the references...  
All hail Hastur, the King in Yellow!... he's my fav... except for GEK, GEoM, VK...

PPS: 'Path to Godhood' remain WH40K + normal world, with the 'chance' for Arthur to cross over later

* * *

**Chapter 2**

**Milky Way Galaxy**

**Ultima Segmentum **

**Maelstrom Zone**

**Vera III**

Three years had passed since the near utter destruction of the Sons of Hate on Iridus. The formerly Imperial ship was renamed 'Icon of Despise' that had borne the Chaos Lord and the pitiful few that survived to Vera III was parked upon the mountainous regions of Vera III's blasted landscape.

The planet was in terrible shape, for it had been within the Maelstrom's influence for thousands upon thousands years. There were no normal life left alive here, and as the blood-coloured water flowed along the river banks full of strange plants that regurgitated disgusting pus, the skies changed colour and shade every second, and the morning fog carried with them sensual perfume that both sickened and pleasured all who are within.

Yet, the charred black peaks of mountains still held more secret than they let on. While daemons of various kinds roamed the surface, the mountains were silent. Many daemons used to reside there, forming their little hells and competing for what remains of mineral resources so that they may be sacrificed to the Dark Mechanicum and the Forge of Souls. Now, a section of the mountains was clear of daemons and other daemons dared not approach it. There were whispers of a powerful warrior of Chaos that landed there.

Using the easily accessible Warp powers upon this world, the strange Chaos Marines entered the Warp at will through a particularly powerful portal. It was not long before the Chaos Lord who led these Chaos Marines began to enslave the daemons as well. Whatever he was planning, he hunted daemons for it.

As for the Chaos Lord Kha'lath, his patience was getting thin.

"What is it ready, Sorcerer? Three years I have spent upon this blasted planet, and I could rebuilt a significant portion of my warband once more had I not been chasing daemons to fuel your ritual!"

The Sorcerer Varhir placated the Chaos Lord.

"It is almost ready, my lord. Soon, you will have all the power you want."

The Chaos Lord paused at the words.

"Thus far, your promises have been empty."

"Well, it would be if you have not brought me the last piece of the puzzle."

Kha'lath growled before showing the Sorcerer his prize.

"Here, the item you sought. The Spirit Stone of an Eldar Farseer."

Varhir smiled as he even took off his helmet to look at the Spirit Stone in detail.

"Yes! Yes, my lord. This is indeed the final piece."

"Very well. Shall we begin my ascension, you have promised?"

Varhir smiled wickedly and nodded.

"Of course, my lord Kha'lath."

They entered a specially prepared chamber once used as the communal mess for the ship's crew. Now, it was a horrifying house of terrible evil. Hundreds of daemons were stuck to the wall, their flesh torn and rended, and their screams being channelled into a large orb on the ceiling. On the floor, a complex set of runes and archaic writings formed a circle, and they glowed and shrieked. The Sorcerer had drawn these runes years ago with the souls of the dead crew that the Chaos Lord slaughtered to capture the ship.

"I shall begin within moments. Please, stand on that circle. That the is place of the recipient of the ritual's power."

Then the Sorcerer stood on the circle opposite the Chaos Lord after placing the Spirit Stone in the middle of the circular runic diagram.

"Ah! Yes, let us begin!"

Nodding slightly, and sneering secretly, the Chaos Sorcerer began to chant in alien language. Minutes passed and the chant continued until the Sorcerer changed his language.

"I beg you, Gods of Old and New! I summon a great evil, a soul without soul, terror incarnate! I summon thee! I summon thee! I summon the one whose god-like gaze can empower or kill! I summon the one whose terrible hands can create dark tools of destruction. I summon the one whose charred soul can bring death in all worlds! I summon thee!"

The Spirit Stone pulsed and the screams of the Eldar Farseer began and ended just as the collected energies from the daemons poured into the Spirit Stone. Yet, the ritual did something to the trinket. While originally red and slightly glowing, now it was encased in some sort of thin crystal that seem very strong, and inside was a dark metallic black orb that once used to be a Spirit Stone.

"Why is nothing happening?"

The Chaos Lord demanded but the Sorcerer was too busy.

"I summon thee!"

Then with a large thunderous roar, two strands of energy struck the Chaos Lord and the Sorcerer, and while the witless Chaos Lord thought it a good sign and chuckled, the Sorcerer's expression became that of a horror.

"NO! NO! He is the sacrifice! NO!"

Only then the Chaos Lord understood the treachery, but it was too late.

"What? You dared to trick... AAARGH!"

The Sorcerer could see the Chaos Lord's flesh being atomised and being drawn to a single point a few meters above the Spirit Stone, the anchor of the spell. While the Chaos Lord only felt pain of his dissolution, the Sorerer was terrified as he witnessed what would happen to him also.

"NO! Not like this! No... AAARGH!"

Sorcerer felt his flesh and soul dissolve and drawn into the glowing light that was getting larger.

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**Milky Way Galaxy**

**Sol System**

**Earth**

**USA – LA**

"What?"

The whole of Arthur's computer glowed. He was editing his new Chaos Lord on his personally programmed editor. His new Chaos Lord looked a lot like a mix between the Space Marine Force Commander and the Chaos Lord, with Arthur's hate of mutation clearly in the design of the new character. Then the computer glowed in red and crimson, then the light began to explode out from the monitor.

"What the f..."

Arthur could not finish his sentence as a beam of crimson light shot forth from the screen and collided with him. It struck him squarely in the chest, and he screamed as his body and soul were disintegrated.

Yet, the light did not stop there. It should have, and the spell would have ended in failure and it would only have cost the lives of three evil beings. Yet, the universe was strange. The large mirror that was put right on the other side of the room, directly behind Arthur's chair, was struck by the light that dissolved Arthur. The mirror effectively reflected the light back into the screen, and then as if the electricity short-circuiting, the beam and the glowing disappeared, leaving only the computer on, but showing something new and different.

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**Milky Way Galaxy**

**Ultima Segmentum **

**Maelstrom Zone**

**Vera III**

The glowing light began to grow suddenly, and the atomised flesh and soul began to collate into that point. Then, a single cell appeared. It appeared to be a brain cell, then more appeared, formed from the atoms of the Chaos Lord and Sorcerer. Once the brain was done, the central nervous system formed, quickly followed by spines that protected the nervous system. The bones began to grow, though they were more metallic in colour than normal human bones. After the skeletons were done, a pair of hearts were formed, followed quickly by other organs. Then muscles formed and skin, with strange black colouring around the torso, formed also. The eyeballs, tongue, ears and hair were the last things to form.

With heavy thud, the fully formed human-looking creature landed. It was male, with large genitalia to represent its masculinity, though such was unnecessary in this universe. This naked man had extremely similar face to Arthur Martin, including the hair colour and the eyes. Although this man was much more handsome and more masculine, he was almost identical to Arthur. Of course, he was very muscular compared to the original Arthur, and this man was an Astartes. He had all the implants within him. His implants were grown with him, thus making him more stable than those who had surgery. In fact, there were no signs of surgery on him at all.

Suddenly, he opened his eyes.

"What happened?"

He paused as he found himself in a terrifying place. There were blood stains everywhere, and in front and behind him were collapsed Power Armours with their inhabitants gone. The walls were filled with hundreds of sets of shackles that seemed to have held something, but now there were nothing.

"Power Armor? These are really freaking Power Armour?"

He noticed the Power Armors, and as he tried to observe them closely, an incredible pain jolted through his brain.

"AAARGH!"

Memories of the Chaos Lord Kha'lath and the Sorcerer Varhir coursed through him, merging with Arthur as he struggled with pain. Yet, they were not utterly his memories, had they been so, Arthur's short life would have been consumed by the thousands of years of memories. Instead, he saw them like a long movie with great narration to tell the thoughts of the two servants of Chaos.

"Huh... What the fuck..."

Arthur looked up from the crouching position.

"The fucked up Sorcerer cast the spell wrong?"

Then a realisation struck him.

"I am here! I am in the goddamn Warhammer 40K universe! And as Chaos too!"

However, his joy ended quite quickly as two Chaos Marines of Kha'lath entered the chamber. Arthur immediately recognised them as Ra'kem and Marius, two of the surviving few from the Sons of Hate warband.

"My lord Kha'lath! There is something wrong with... What? Who are you? What did you do to Kha'lath and Varhir? Speak or I shall make your end very painful!"

The Chaos Marine Ra'kem pointed his bolter at Arthur. For a moment Arthur suddenly felt 'fear', an emotion that he has never felt before. He understood in that moment that while he was a psychopath who didn't understand emotion, the merging with Kha'lath and Varhir had awoken a little set of emotions within him. While the primary emotions he could feel were mostly the negatives such as anger, hate, fear and such, Arthur was delighted by the discovery.

"Why are you smirking? Do you want to die a painful death?"

Obviously, Arthur did not look like a Loyalist Astartes, because if he was, then he would have shouted something like 'For the Emperor!' or some such bullshit. Arthur did not. After a moment of fear faded, the physical response, probably from Kha'lath himself, kicked in.

With a single graceful step, the 2.5m tall Arthur slid toward Ra'kem in a single stride, and elbowed the Chaos Marine's exposed face.

Crack!

It appeared to Arthur that his strength was beyond that of Kha'lath but merged with that of Varhir as well. Although Varhir was a Sorcerer, he was still an Astartes, and they were all very powerful. Ra'kem's face was pushed back with the single attack, and in the next moment, Arthur took Ra'kem's bolter from his hand, and spun around.

Dakka!Dakka!Dakka!Dakka!

Four rounds were fired from the bolter and got buried inside Ra'kem's body, only to explode microseconds later. Then just as Ra'kem was slowly falling, Arthur turned his gun on Marius who lifted his bolt pistol. Arthur was faster, and he let loose more bolter rounds.

Dakka!Dakka!Dakka!Dakka! Dakka!Dakka!Dakka!Dakka! Click! Click!

"Huh... Twelve rounds?"

Arthur looked around. Then he saw Kha'lath's plasma pistol.

"Oh, is this 'joy' I am feeling? Not a bad emotion."

His thoughts finally reached to the point where he wanted the pistol. Then something else happened. His hands suddenly crackled with energy and the plasma pistol flew into his left hand.

"So, I've got Varhir's psyker powers as well? Interesting..."

Arthur pondered for a moment if he should attempt to see the Warp, but then he decided that it could wait. The first thing was to protect himself. There were many perils in the Warhammer 40K universe after all.

"I think Kha'lath's armour will do."

Armed with Varhir's knowledge, Arthur lifted the Power Armour pieces from the heap with telekinesis, and began to fit the Power Armour on to himself.

"There are no servitors on his blasted ship?"

It was quite an ordeal to wear the Power Armour without assistance. Had it not been for his new psyker powers, he finally managed it. With the final armour piece equipped, he checked himself. One thing he found, was that all the twisted Warp powers and energies and abilities and decorations that should have been on the Power Armour, including the blessings of the Chaos Gods, were no longer there. He looked around and also found no trace of Warp powers

"Weren't there hundreds of daemons stuck to the walls?"

Memories told him so.

"What have you done, Varhir?"

The Sorcerer's memory were quickly reviewed, and Arthur found the answer.

"The fool! He thought mere hundreds of daemons could fuel such spell? Of course! The Warp around this planet would be entirely devoured by the spell!"

Indeed, the spell was an old one made by the Old Ones themselves. Varhir had not correctly interpreted the spell, and had only fed a fraction of what the spell required. Being a spell older than the Chaos Gods themselves, the spell acted to complete itself by consuming everything Warp around it. In fact, the entire solar system, which skirted the Maelstrom thus filled with fluctuating Warp energies, was cleansed within a single moment. The Warp around the planet and in the solar system was utterly calm, like the time before the Old Ones created psychic races. Daemons were also consumed, and the planet Vera III had seen first real sunlight in two thousand years thanks to the spell. The blood rivers, were reverted back to normal waters, while the sky was blue again.

"Now what?"

As he pondered, he saw the glowing object.

"Ah, the Spirit Stone, the anchor of this spell."

He picked it up, and saw that there were still a lot of energy in there.

"Varhir should not have become a Sorcerer. What kind of Sorcerer would be so stupid?"

Inside the twisted Spirit Stone, there were enough energies to open a portal at least a half-dozen times. Arthur instinctively knew where the portal opened to.

"I think I will keep this... for now."

Putting the stone inside his Power Armor, Arthur grabbed Kha'lath's Power Sword, which had the daemon inside stripped from it. It was now a normal but old Power Sword no more remarkable than any other power weapon.

"It will do."

Arthur swung the blade a few times to get the feeling of it when he heard footsteps. Soon, six Chaos Marines of Kha'lath appeared.

"Lord Kha'lath... what? Ra'kem, Marius!"

"He is not Kha'lath!"

Arthur chuckled

"You are right. Now you serve me!"

Yet, he had underestimated the Chaos Marines. Each and every one hungered for greater powers.

"Die!"

Dakka!Dakka!Dakka!Dakka!

The Chaos Marine in the forefront, known as Haldor, fired his bolter, but Arthur got out of the way easily and returned fire with his Plasma Pistol.

Blam!

The single shot was go accurate and powerful that Haldor's helmet exploded. He had not died, as he was an Astartes, but the broken helmet had impaired him. Then just as other Chaos Marines moved to assist Haldor, Arthur was moving again.

The Power Sword skewered Haldor through the neck, and even as he held the sword there, he fired five shots into the helmet-less Chaos Marine standing next to Haldor, recognised as Vivir. Vivir's eyeballs melted and his thrice-forked tongue burned and his skull collapsed under the heat of the plasma. In moment, Arthur felt something he has never felt before.

Even as the two Chaos Marines screamed as they died, he felt 'happiness'. It was blissful to feel things die at his hand. Then something else made him even happier. The souls of the two Chaos Marines had not entered the Warp to go to their patron Chaos Gods. Instead, it went into the Spirit Stone to recharge it a little.

As the Chaos Marines were in confusion, Arthur smiled.

"Now, will you serve or die?"

The Chaos Marines paused. Whoever this Chaos Marine was, he had somehow got rid of Kha'lath and Varhir, not to mention Ra'kem, Marius, Haldor and Vivir. The remaining four Chaos Marines slowly went down to their knees.

Arthur narrowed his eyes. These Chaos Marines would be useful. Then they asked his name, for they had no idea who this was.

"What may we call you, lord?"

Arthur paused. His brilliant mind quickly came up with a name that he felt he could really use. He knew that real names are powerful weapons, so he needed new names.

"I have many names, brothers. I am the Black Enemy, the King in Yellow, the Falcon of the Underworld, the Lord of the Rings, the Father Dagon!"

Arthur was basically pouring out every nickname of the evil characters he's ever read. The Black Enemy was a title for Melkor/Morgoth, the satanic character in the Tolkien's works, and the Lord of the Rings refers to Sauron, Melkor's most trusted servant. The King in Yellow was Hastur, the Unspeakable one, from the Cthulhu mythos along with the Father Dagon. As for the Falcon of the Underworld, it was a vague reference to Seker, or Sokar, an ancient Egyptian deity of the underworld and an evil character from Stargate SG-1.

"I am El Sokauron, the Morghastur! You may call me, the Witch King!"

Arthur's eyes seemed to flash with psychic powers, and the Chaos Marines were cowered by such seemingly illustrious name.

"I am the Witch King! I shall bring terror and agony through the galaxy! Let the galaxy tremble at my coming!"

* * *

_**End of Chapter 2**_


	3. Chapter 3

Well, this chapter is the lynch pin. If this doesn't fan out well, then I may have to dramatically change the story.

Oh, by the way, I've changed the story to Warhammer & X-overs, since Arthur Martin will bring great evil everywhere else too.

Tell me what you think.

PPS: 'Path to Godhood' remain WH40K + normal world, with the 'chance' for Arthur to cross over later

* * *

**Chapter 3**

**Milky Way Galaxy**

**Ultima Segmentum**

**Maelstrom Zone**

**Vera III**

Arthur, or the Witch King El Sokauron to the Chaos Marines that bowed at his feet, chuckled as he watched the empty plains of the planet Vera III. The landscape was barren, with all forms of life wiped out in their entirety by the Virus Bombs used in the Exterminatus. Though the weapon had been deployed more than two thousand years ago, there was still no life left on the planet. The atmosphere had been stripped of oxygen, and he had to wear Kha'lath's helmet to go outside. Yet, he had deeply desired to see the blasted world outside the ship.

Four Chaos Marines remained to him, and they followed him outside, as if to guard him. He did not believe for a moment that these Chaos Marines would really obey him. They were just waiting for a chance to betray him. Arthur was wary, but he did not think that they would betray him so quickly.

"What an interesting planet this is. A planet of no life, once filled with daemons, now purified in ways that the slaves of the Corpse Emperor could ever have imagined."

He walked down the narrow footpath down to the ruins of villages that used to exist before the Exterminatus. No one lived there anymore, but the stones and metals still remained in their half-melted forms. The houses crumbled even at the thuds of Arthur's boots walking past them, and Arthur could see that these were once proud structures built by the Imperials. They were built with concrete and steel frames, but against the pyres of the Exterminatus, the frames had melted and the concretes had cracked.

"I feel… no pity, no sorrow… I feel the need to kill, terrify and to dominate. Ah, these are good feelings."

Click! Click! Click! Click!

Sounds of four bolters loading were heard behind him. Arthur was mildly surprised that these Chaos Marines have decided to betray him so quickly. It was not that he was scared. He had every confidence that a body created by an amalgamation of a Chaos Lord and Chaos Sorcerer would be powerful enough to crush through any rebellion against him.

"You dare?"

He questioned them without even turning, but he had gripped his Plasma Pistol and Power Sword tightly.

"We dare, O' mighty Witch King, or whatever you are!"

Arthur spun around, firing his Plasma Pistol, but the Chaos Marines were too far from the reach of his Power Sword.

Dakka!Dakka!Dakka!Dakka! Dakka!Dakka!Dakka!Dakka! Dakka!Dakka!Dakka!Dakka!

Arthur felt pain as the bolt rounds struck him in great numbers. He felt his Power Armor crack and buckle under the onslaught, and the bolt rounds exploded within his chest. There was even a bolter round that struck his face, tearing apart the jaw and an ear. His hand exploded and the Power Sword was dropped, and his left knee failed him.

"Argh!"

With only a single grunt of pain, Arthur fell backwards. Falling very much like the Chaos Lord in the Dawn of War 2, Arthur frowned as his consciousness blurred but not ended. The pain was intense as his internal organs meshed up by the exploding bolter rounds moved about. Then he saw through his blurred vision that one of the Chaos Marines, remembered as U'rask, came above Arthur with the Power Sword that Arthur had dropped.

"You reign of terror seemed to have ended prematurely, O' Witch King!"

Then without further ado, U'rask drove the Power Sword directly beneath Arthur's helmet. Arthur felt pain, and he saw the enormous spurts of blood shooting out from his own throat. Yet, the consciousness did not end. Though it was blurry, Arthur was still alive. His breathing had stopped, and his hearts have stopped, but he was still conscious.

~Almost like how the Hero characters do not actually die in the game… Wait… Could it be?~

His suspicions began to grow, and even as detached as he was to his own life at the moment, he suddenly felt the need to survive. Although he had previously accepted his death in his death-filled galaxy, now that he recognized his own immortality, he was greatly pleased.

"He is still alive!"

"Impossible! I took off his head!"

"Cut it off!"

The Power Sword was swung, and the blade went through Arthur's neck, but even as it sliced through the skin, flesh and bones, they reattached.

"I cannot!"

"What!"

~Now that I know I cannot die, how should I revive myself? Wait… like the game… then… if I could somehow invoke Shift and F2, then…~

Even as Arthur thought 'Shift + F2', something changed. The amulet that was the anchor of the spell that brought Arthur had lost some of its stored power. It wasn't too much, but Arthur felt that energy roughly one fifth of a single trip through a portal was lost. Then, he felt pain again. He felt every wound heal. Intestines and organs and implants corrected themselves. The intestines knit together, the organs collected their bits and reformed, and the skin and even the Power Armor mended itself. The holes filled up as if time had reversed. Within a second, Arthur was whole again.

"I rise once more!"

The Chaos Marines looked stricken as I stood back up, apparently without any wounds or even hits of battle upon the Power Armor. Then Arthur turned his head to U'rask. With speed that surpassed an average Astartes, Arthur reached forth and grabbed U'rask by the horn of his helmet.

"You have disappointed me! Now, scream!"

With his immense strength, Arthur reached in and grabbed U'rask by his neck. The sealed helmet began to crack and hiss of oxygen was heard.

"Shoot! Shoot him!"

U'rask screamed, but the three remaining Chaos Marines did not fire. They were surprised but intrigued by this Witch King who seemed to be immortal.

"SCREAM!"

Arthur roared as he literally pulled U'rask's head from the body with a great ripping sound. Six segments of spines were pulled out with the head, the blood gushing all over in the process.

"How disappointing, U'rask. You've failed."

Arthur tossed the dead away unceremoniously, and turned to the remaining Chaos Marines.

"Now, what shall we do about you?"

The Chaos Marines looked at each other for a moment, before kneeling in front of me.

"My lord! Forgive us. We shall serve."

Arthur paused, and then certain knowledge of the Sorcerer surfaced.

"Very well, then pledge yourselves to me, and I shall allow you to live."

He was going to bind these Chaos Marines to him using sorceries of Chaos. However, he was not quite ready to do this yet.

"Come… It is time to depart this place."

"Yes, my lord."

Arthur led the three Chaos Marines back, and they carried the corpse of U'rask at the orders of Arthur.

Arthur had much to think about this predicament and his uncanny ability.

"Such power… it is highly unnatural. It literally crosses the boundaries of different universes. I wonder…"

As he entered the large hall where the Cultists were praying to the Chaos Gods, he looked at one of the Cultists and put the lowly creature in his thoughts.

~Shift plus F4.~

Suddenly, the Cultist stood up, convulsed and died, blood exploding out of every orifice. Even as the other Cultists screamed in terror of the sudden and unnatural death of their fellows, Arthur chuckled darkly. He could feel the unnerved reactions of the three Chaos Marines. The energy in his artifact was reduced too, but it was much less than when it had to revive Arthur. In fact, Arthur calculated that it cost him only around 1% of the energy required to form a portal. Unfortunately, the Cultist's soul was not absorbed like the Chaos Marines did when I killed them physically.

~Control plus F1.~

'Ctrl + F1' was the cheat for Requisition points, and Arthur was curious as to how the ability would translate to the real-world situation. Arthur felt about 5% of a single portal drain from the amulet.

Suddenly, thousands of tiny balls of metal rained down upon the Cultists. They screamed and got out of the way just in time. Arthur narrowed his eyes as he picked up a ball that rolled to his feet.

"Pure adamantium… about six grams."

He looked at the balls, and there were other metals.

"Ceramite and gold."

He measured their weight using his new psychic powers. The ceramite ball weighed around 17 grams and the gold was almost 199 grams.

"Count how many there are."

The Cultists trembled at his words and rallied his fellows to count the balls. Arthur turned from them with some of the metal balls in his hand.

"How interesting… I wonder…"

He and the Chaos Marines headed to the bridge, and Arthur sat on the Command Throne, the seat of the Captain of the vessel.

"Leave me. Come back when the Cultists have the number of metal balls."

"Yes, my lord."

They left, still terrified of their new strange leader with immortality and unnatural powers.

Arthur pondered. He wondered if he could use all the cheats from the game. He certainly had the ability to revive himself and kill others. He also could conjure up enormous wealth, he assumed 5000 units of it exactly, and possibly 'power' as well. Of course, it cost him the energy in the amulet, but since it absorbed the souls of those Arthur has killed, then Arthur only had to kill lots of beings to become even more powerful.

"I wonder… if I could 'level up' with this power."

It would be exciting if he could.

"It would probably cost me much energy. Well, I need to know exactly how much… Shift plus F1!"

The first thing Arthur felt was how much energy was drained from the amulet. The amulet was drained of enough energy to form a portal back to Arthur's dimension. Yet, as that moment passed, Arthur felt it. His muscles were full of energy, and he felt certain muscles around arms and legs spasm and increase in mass and flexibility. He felt his bones strengthen and his psychic powers increase in capacity.

"That's a whammy! Phew… Yet, it is very inefficient."

This was true. Thus far, every kill made by Arthur thus far, the soul collected was very little. It was less than 0.001% of a single portal. So, to level himself up or to form a portal, he had to slaughter one hundred thousand people. The action of killing them meant very little to Arthur. It was not about the murders. It was about the efficiency. Arthur could do many other things during the same time he could spend killing a hundred thousand people. Besides, the tiny ship he commanded could not possibly get past the Imperial defenses, his meager three Chaos Marines and two dozen Cultists were not really going cut it if he wanted to invade a planet and kill a hundred thousand people.

"My lord?"

Arthur turned his head to find a Chaos Marine, Terrence by the name, came to report to him.

"Speak!"

"There are four thousand nine hundred ninety seven balls of metal, my lord."

Arthur smiled and revealed three orbs he took before.

"That makes five thousand with these. Exactly five thousand units of Requisition… how interesting."

Arthur searched his memory. Five thousand balls of metal was enormous wealth, even though mixed between adamantium, ceramite and gold. Of course, it had less value to the Chaos Marines since the forces of Chaos were all about deeds and desires of greater evil than greed. It was important in making weapons and armor and tools, but it was not an absolute like back in Arthur's own dimension.

"Prepare to take off. We are leaving this barren world soon."

"Yes, lord."

Arthur smiled darkly. Before lifting off, he wanted to experiment with one more thing. He wanted to create a portal first.

"Now, bring me a dozen of gold balls, and bring me all the wargears aboard this vessel."

"Wargears? All of them?"

"Do not question my command, worm. You will obey!"

The Chaos Marine brought me the armor of Varhir, and other dead Chaos Marines, and the wargears of the original crew of the vessel, including several laspistols, lasguns, Imperial Guard-quality Power Swords. Arthur dismissed the Chaos Marines so that they may not witness the opening of the portal, and sifted through the wargears.

* * *

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

* * *

**Milky Way Galaxy**

**Sol System**

**Earth**

**USA – LA**

Arthur's experiment with the portal revealed a few things. Firstly, he was the only living thing to cross the portal. The lone Cultist who was dragged along by Arthur became an empty skeleton on the other side.

Secondly, it appeared that the portal changed Arthur when he crossed it. While everything else remained same even on this side of the universe, Arthur's body had changed. In the 40K universe, he was a Chaos Lord, and he reached the height of over 2.5m and full of muscles. While Arthur was still full of muscles, and had all the implants, his height was mere 2m, though it was still about 20cm taller than Arthur's original body. This was a good thing, since nobody on this side of the portal was 2.5m tall. If someone saw him like that, Arthur would have to fight off a lot of police, military, CIA and NSA who would want to take him apart and do experiments.

Thirdly, Arthur found that his sorceries were weakened here, but it was much less perilous than in 40K universe. While the powers of Chaos didn't exist, thus weakening the sorcery, the pure psychic powers had taken free reign here. Here, he could cast incredible psychic spell that could destroy entire city blocks without the fear of being devoured by a daemon.

Fourth, the portal was very energy-efficient. Although opening a portal cost a lot of energy, it remained open for nearly 2 minutes and Arthur could move back and forth during that time.

Lastly, the time froze. When Arthur was in 40K universe, his original universe was frozen, and visa versa. However, Arthur speculated that it wasn't actually freezing the time, but more like Arthur was moving between one moment and the next. It was an incredible power.

In any case, Arthur had returned to his original dimension. His face looked same as Arthur used to be, but it was more manly, and there was a hint of danger there. It was strange even to Arthur as well. For the first time, his face was showing emotions. He was joyous at the idea that he was the only Space Marine on this side of the portal. He could conquer the whole Earth with no Loyalists to stop him.

Arthur, in such anticipation, had brought a cache of weapons and technologies with him. He was wearing Kha'lath's Power Armour, and bore the Power Sword and Plasma Pistol of the former Chaos Lord. However, he also brought the Power Armor and Force Sword of the Sorcerer Varhir as well. Beyond these, he also brought a couple of laspistols, three lasguns, six frag grenades, a bolt pistol and a bolter.

Another thing Arthur discovered was the change in the Dawn of War 2 game on his computer. The screen that he was staring at had changed. Now, it showed the interior of the 'Icon of Despise' and his own avatar, frozen in the spot where he had entered the portal. Upon clicking the character, Arthur discovered that he was 'Witch King El Sokauron / Morghastur', a Level 2 Chaos Sorcerer Lord of (Undefined). His health was at 1050, energy of 210, and armed with the 'Kill the Weak!', 'Consume' and 'Doombolt' abilities. Arthur had abilities of both the Chaos Lord and the Sorcerer.

It was unfortunate that Arthur could not change the numbers with his program. Each time he attempted, the amulet resisted and the changing of numbers failed. Believing that to be some sort of limit of the spell, Arthur relented. However, he found he could still run his other editing programs, particularly the World Builder and his own Item Creator.

The first thing Arthur did was to create a new wargear. It was an experiment to Arthur, but he wanted to find out whether it would work and if it will cost him more energy in the amulet. Indeed, when Arthur made his new armour and placed it right next to the avatar in the screen, it cost same amount of energy as 'Ctrl + F1' no matter what level the item was.

Arthur made few items to experiment, then created and added a few new items. Since he was alone for the week again, he stayed up all night creating the items. He made a Level 2 Power Armor and Level 10 Power Armour just in case he could wear a Level 10 Power Armor without leveling up.

For something he could use without fail, he created an incredible Level 2 Power Armor he named 'Mantle of Loki', and gave it a passive ability to create realistic illusion to fool enemy into shooting at the wrong target. For a Level 2 item, it had a great armor rating as well, though Arthur could not put a number higher as if there was a cap. Every attempt to circumvent this had given him a warning pulse from the amulet.

He also created a Power Sword that could replace Kha'lath's weapon. He named it the 'Fang of Dread' and gave it a life-drain ability and gave it high attack speed, and good ratings on the 'Damage versus:' lines. It even had suppression ability, rare for a melee. Arthur was momentarily frustrated that he could not jack up the weapon's damage, but then decided that free reign in such sections was good enough. His new ranged weapon was a Melta Pistol he named the 'Flames of Damnation'.

However, being a Chaos Sorcerer Lord, he added a few equipments to his avatar, such as 'Blight Grenade', 'Flaming Skull', 'Caged Daemon' and 'Sigil of the Warp'. These would come in handy because the 'Sigil of the Warp' would allow Arthur to teleport, while the 'Caged Daemon' would sow confusion among his enemies, and the 'Flaming Skull' would allow Arthur to fire devastating fireball in a 'Let the Galaxy Burn' attack. The 'Blight Grenade' was for other more sinister purpose.

Once that was done, it was already morning. After carefully stacking his new toys somewhere, he took shower and went to sleep.

Arthur woke up around 11AM, and he was quite refreshed.

"Alright, let's do some evil!"

* * *

END OF CHAPTER 3


	4. Chapter 4

Well, here is Chapter 4, and I am grateful that you liked it.

Yes, Arthur has the god-like power of editior, but changing the universe costs energy, though not as much as expected.

Now, Chapter 4 will introduce our 'antagonist'. Since our 'protagonist' is an psychopathic evil Chaos Sorcerer Lord, our 'antagonist' must be a 'good guy', and with no real power too.

PPS: 'Path to Godhood' remain WH40K + normal world, with the 'chance' for Arthur to cross over later

* * *

**Chapter 4**

**Milky Way Galaxy**

**Sol System**

**Earth**

**USA – Los Angeles**

Detective Jake Adams loved his brown trench coat. It really wasn't that great to wear such clothes in LA of all places, but being a man who grew up with the dream of being a cool detective with such trench coat. Of course, now he was moderately jaded by his experiences, but Jake loved his job. As he sipped his coffee, he stared out the window of his car, waiting for his partner Detective Barry Fielding. Barry was a senior detective, and Jake made detective only last year. He still had much to learn. One thing going for Jake was that he was strong and well trained.

Jake flexed his empty hand, as was his habit, and if he was wearing a t-shirt, then people would have seen thick fibers of muscle coiled around his forearm and bulging biceps and triceps on his upper arms. Indeed, Jake was not an old cop whose belly has finally given up the battle against the constant streams of jam-filled doughnuts and bad food. In fact, Jake had an awesome body and fitness level that was the pride of LA police. He won two second-place awards from amateur bodybuilding competition, though he missed out on the first-place because of all this scars.

The reason that he had such muscles and such scars was that he was in the military before joining the police. In his youth, he joined the military, following the footsteps of his father, a decorated officer in the marines, killed in action. Jake's family did not have the money to send Jake to the university he wanted to go, but the connections through his dead father had allowed him to join the military academy. When showed talents in leadership and combat, he was 'asked' by a general, who was a friend of the family, if he'd like to join a special program that would pay very well. Jake needed the money because he wanted to send his little sister to Harvard without incurring massive student-loan, so he accepted.

Thus, Jake joined the test for the '1st Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta (1st SFOD-D)', popularly known as Delta Force. He got in with very good score and was welcomed into the team. Yet, his journey was not so simple. He wasn't just a Delta, but he was chosen also for his genes. He had a special gene that only occurred one in five million, and the military wanted to experiment with people with such genes to make a perfect soldier. It was a little like what was happening in Jason Bourne novels or movies, but without such 'menacing evil' side. After all, these special soldiers were not going to be used as assassins. Jake agreed to the extra-curricular activities for more money and a promise about life after Delta.

He was given drugs and extra training, and special brainwashing-thingy inside a strange high-tech capsule. After about a year, he found himself stronger, faster than any of his fellow Deltas and he had incredible reflexes and endurance. His sights were perfect or better, and he could hear better. For a while, he felt like a superman, only to find that thanks to him, the other Deltas were getting new drugs. They made other Deltas strong too, and though the euphoria of being a lone superman was gone, Jake thought it was a good thing to have these extra powers. Of course, he only felt like a superman, but his new-found strengths were not so titanic. He was simply a little stronger and little faster. He was a perfect soldier, not a superman.

Yet, despite the disappointment, the government kept their promise. After serving with Deltas for a while, he was honorably discharged, and got into the police academy. He finally became a police officer. Then he took the detective's exam, and got in. Now, aged 32, Jake Adams was a very fine detective, who mostly the grunt-work while his experienced partner actually did the detecting.

"Jake, here's your burger."

Barry handed Jake a very large cheeseburger, while carrying two burgers himself.

"Come on, Barry. You promised you'd stop eating that junk. You are going to get a heart attack before you get shot by a bad guy."

Jake liked his partner, and worried at the huge amount of fried food that the chubby old detective ate.

"Kid, I'm 56 with no wife and no kids. I can have as much fried food as I want. Now, stop bugging me about it."

"That's the point, Barry. You need to stop eating burgers, work out and find a new woman your life."

Jake knew the story about Barry's wife and child. The arsonist that terrorized the city few years back had set fire to Barry's house. Barry had arrested him, but due to some fumbling by the crime lab, the arsonist was set free. In a rage of vengeance, the arsonist doused Barry's house with fuel and set fire to it. Barry was on a stake-out that night and his 25 year old son had come to visit his parents. When Barry's wife and son tried to get out of the burning house, the arsonist fired a shotgun into them just as they ran out of the front door.

Since then, Barry had been eating himself to death, and Jake could do nothing but sigh. They drove on, returning to their station. Suddenly, the police radio chimed in.

-Attention all units. Any central unit, a 211 with 10-71 and 10-79 is occurring at 606 South Olive Street at the City National Bank. Suspects estimated as eight are armed and dangerous. Multiple gunshots and possible automatic weapons present. Monitor comments for additional. Code 3.-

Jake was excited once more. He loved being in Delta and the missions. It felt like that again.

"Dispatch, this is 01-32, we are at 1153 South Olive Street. We are heading there now."

-10-4, 01-32. Advised not to engage. SWAT teams are on their way.-

"10-4, dispatch."

Barry clucked this tongue at apparent excitement of Jake.

"Kid, I don't understand why are you are so excited. Getting shot is not my idea of dying. I rather have a heart attack then getting shot at."

"Come on, you don't believe that for a second."

The bank was already a battlefield when they arrived. There were two other police cars already there, but the police officers were taking cover behind their cars as the bank robbers fired their rifles at the police. Even as Jake and Barry arrived, two more cop cars came to help their fellow police officers. Jake did not move the car close, because that was a suicide. He stopped the car with plenty of distance between the bank and them, and got of the car.

"What? Jake! We are parked too far."

"Sorry, Barry, but I rather not go there without my gear."

Jake quickly went to the trunk of his car and took out his gear. He brought out two bulletproof vests, and handed one to Barry. Then Jake looked at Barry.

"Do you want some of my guns?"

Barry shook his head and just grabbed the police-issue Remington Model 870 shotgun, and grabbed a small cloth-bag of shells.

"No, kid. I've no idea why they let you have those stuff, but they look dangerous."

They were dangerous. In order to protect their secrets, the military allowed Jake to have some military-grade weapons, with proper tagging to ensure against theft. Jake thought that NSA agents were probably watching his every move and collecting data whenever Jake was in combat situation. Indeed, for a rookie detective, Jake was given a lot of dangerous cases where he was in combat situation.

Chuckling at Barry, Jake took out his Heckler & Koch G36 with 100-round C-Mag drum magazine. He then grabbed three 30-round box magazines, and a set of three grenades. The grenades were colored in three different colors. They were a smoke grenade, a stun grenade and a riot control grenade. Also, he grabbed a short belt with four magazines for his 9mm S&W Model 5906 and wrapped it around his left thigh. Barry was still using the Beretta 92, but Jake preferred the new weapon.

"Ready, Barry?"

Barry rolled his eyes at Jake.

"You want me to say 'I'm too old for this shit', right? I'm not going to say it."

"Fine."

Then, their eyes changed. From the joke-like conversation, they now turned into professional police officers. They quickly rushed to the aid of their fellow officers, who were firing their 9mm pistols against enemy's machine guns.

"That sounds like MP5! What the hell!"

Jake gritted his teeth as someone sprayed two 3-round bursts against the bonnet of the car that he was hiding behind.

He looked around him, and saw three more cop cars now parked and with officers behind them. There was the distant sound of SWAT can coming.

"Good. Hey, Alvarez."

Jake nodded to a familiar police officer hiding behind the car door. Officer Alvarez nodded back, even as bullets smashed the front window of the cop car. Jake winced as the shards of glass sprayed all over.

"Damn it."

Soon, however, the scene changed as the SWAT team arrived and surrounded the place. The SWAT team roared at the bank robbers.

Suddenly, unthinkable happened. One of the SWAT vans was flung over. There was no explosion. Just the van was flung over as if some giant kicked it across the ground. SWAT teams scattered as the car was flying, and in that moment, bullets rained on the SWAT.

"DAMN IT! Officer down!"

BOOM!

An explosion raked across the front of the bank, as if there was now a wall of fire between the bank and the police. The police attempted to return fire, but they all saw the hostages held up against the window.

Jake had squeezed off few shots, but he could not get any robbers. The police had no choice but to make their own shots into warning shots. Shooting into the bank could hurt the hostages.

Soon, more vans and cop cars came. Jake watched it all happen as negotiators made phone calls. The sun was waning now, and the dusk was setting in. Police cordon was around the bank.

"This is strange."

Barry commented as he took a glance at the negotiators.

"What is strange?"

"Normally, bank robbers just grab the money and run like hell. A good heist gets it done before we are even alerted. These guys came into steal the money, then stayed and fought."

Jake nodded. Now that he thought about it, something was strange. Then his good hearing heard the negotiators.

"They want a camera. They want to make a statement. They are not NORMAL bank robbers."

Soon, a camera and crew were assembled. Jake did notice that of the three people, two of them were police officers in disguise. Only the male reporter was a civilian.

"That's a bad idea."

Once the camera and crew entered the bank, Jake took out his iPhone and tuned into the visual. Inside the screen, something very strange was happening.

An armored man, impossibly tall for a human, was directing the bank robbers. Of the initial eight robbers reported, two were dead, and this armored man was something else. The armored man was standing at around 7'8" even without the horns on his elaborate but gothic-helmet. He was wearing a strange armor, with oversized pauldrons, large and heavy-looking greaves, and on his back was what appeared to be some sort of dragon's heads holding black balls with golden band around it. The helmet was a bit like the ancient Greek helmets with T-shaped slit that completely hid his face, but there was a small icon of an eye on his forehead, standing vertically as if it was a third eye.

"Is he holding a sword?"

Jake noticed it when Barry pointed it out. The man was holding a sword. A sword! Who really wielded a sword in this era of guns? The blade, from the extrapolated measurement by comparing with people in the screen, was about nearly 5 feet long, and with the width of nearly three inches. Moreover, the blade seemed to be glowing in crimson light. The armored man was also holding a pistol of some sort, but it looked like something from science fiction. It had an exposed section where it glowed pink.

Suddenly, the interview started. The male reporter seemed confident that the bank robbers won't kill him. Jake understood the line of thought. The robbers would not want the public to turn against them by their senseless violence. Yet, something told him that these are not normal bank robbers. In fact, the remaining six robbers seem afraid of the armored man.

-So… hello.-

-Silence. I wish to speak to the people.-

-Uh… okay. Go ahead.-

It was obvious that the police thought that this ambush of two disguised police officers along with snipers and SWAT strike team would solve this quickly, and this life TV interview would only serve to show the bravery and skills of the LA's finest.

Then, unthinkable happened.

-I am Lord El Sokauron the Terrorbringer! I come to bring you FEAR! Witness the slaughter of innocents!-

"Shit!"

Jake swore even as he stared at the wanton violent.

The armored man struck so suddenly. His sword pierced the report's stomach so completely with such ease that nobody could have prevented it. The tip of the blade was protruding from the man's back.

-ARGH!-

The reporter screamed as the horizontally stuck blade lifted him up. Now with the blade pointed upward, the reporter began to slide down the blade. Then the disguised officers broke free from their stunned moment and brought their gun about.

-Let him go, you mother**ker!-

Blam! Blam Blam Blam! Blam! Blam! Blam Blam!

The deafening roars of gunfire were heard, but the armored man, the Lord El Sokauron, did not even flinch. Bullets struck his armor and helmet, causing sparks, but the man seemed unfazed by it all. In fact, Jake could swear that the man was sneering at them.

-Give in to your despair. Let terror take you.-

Then, almost lazily, El Sokauron raised his strange sci-fi pistol at the disguised officers.

Phew!

That was the sound. The sound was not great in volume. It was a small sound, and it was like a short whistle sound mixed with a sigh. There was a flash of pinkish color, and then there was a scream.

-What the f**k! Michael! You killed Michael!-

The other disguised officer ran up to El Sokauron, trying to shove his gun into the gap between the helmet and the armor. Yet, this El Sokauron seemed to be a powerful warrior. By a mere flick of his elbow, he aimed the sci-fi pistol at the officer's head. Then he fired.

Phew!

The officer's head disappeared, or technically, the front half of the head had disappeared. The front half of his head was burned and charred, and the brain seemed to be on fire, literally. The officer's body wavered for a moment before falling backward with a loud thump.

Jake realized why the bank robbers were afraid. Their original number must have been eight like it was reported, and then this El Sokauron had appeared, and killed two of their number. What started out as any 'normal' bank robbery went 'insane' after this guy showed up.

"Who is this guy?"

Suddenly, there were helicopters, both of police and the media, and then they heard more vans, this time with FBI markings.

"Barry, the Feds are here."

"Huh, I guess they needed to butt in."

"Yeah, but we got dibs on this guy. Nobody gets away with killing a cop."

Now, normally such statement would ring true, but this 'El Sokauron' guy felt different, and dangerous.

"Hey, they are coming out!"

Someone shouted, and Jake peered over the car to see El Sokauron walking out with other bank robbers and hostages in tow. Of the many hostages, only five young people were taken as hostages, and from the camera still inside the bank, the other hostages were sitting in a circle with their backs forming the inside of the circle. There also seemed to be a large grenade inside that circle.

"He's got a bomb."

"Who has the detonator?"

"That looks awfully like a grenade."

People were speaking all around him, but Jake focused on the culprit of this insanity.

El Sokauron seemed so confident and sure of himself. In fact, he had exposed himself to the field of fire from every cop outside the bank. Jake felt that if they could take down this El Sokauron, then the robbers would scatter. He quickly flipped through the list of phone numbers in his phone. He knew the captain of the SWAT team personally.

"Hey, Jim. Yeah, it's Jake. See me waving my hand at you? I know, I know… but hear me out. You need to take down that leader. That El Soka-ron guy. Without him, the bank robbers will scatter, then you can rescue the hostages."

Jake managed to convince the SWAT team leader. Now, with his G36 ready, he prepared to run out there and take down El Sokauron to buy time for the SWAT to move in.

BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! BLAM!

Five different snipers fired at El Sokauron, and when he heard the sound, Jake ran out there. He placed his G36 to his shoulder and let the bullets fly. He knew that even if the guy's helmet blocked the sniper rounds, he should be shaken. That was the only chance.

Dakka-dakka-dakka-dakka-dakka-dakka-dakka-dakka-dakka-dakka-dakka-dakka-dakka-dakka~

With a roaring howl of G36 firing its dead 5.56x45mm NATO rounds at 750 rounds per minute, the battlefield was suddenly full of sound. The SWAT moved in at the right time, leaping and grabbing the hostages back, while the bank robbers just launched themselves out of the way. Then everything stopped.

"What the…?"

El Sokauron, the Terrorbringer, chuckled darkly as he strode forward as if nothing has happened. The five sniper rounds managed to leave small dents on his helmet, and the 100 NATO rounds managed to make little dents and few bits of paint fall off. That was it. That was the total extent of the damage caused against the Chaos Sorcerer Lord. Unfazed by bullets, he spoke in dark tone.

"You are interesting, detective Adams."

* * *

**END OF CHAPTER 4**


	5. Chapter 5

Okay, one more chapter!

**WARNING! Terrorism Theme!**

I understand that the people of the world, particularly Americans, are quite paranoid about terrorism. You must remember that the 'protagonist' of the story is actually the 'bad guy'. This is a literary experiment in reversing the roles of protagonist and antagonist. It's not even anti-hero character. Arthur Martin in this story is really evil bad guy with evil purpose. He is like Joker in Nolan's Batman series. Arthur lives only to bring terror into people's souls before devouring the souls. That's why the theme is so dark.

There is also a jab about American's love of guns. Personally, I love guns. They look cool, and they have that heaviness that makes you feel extra manly when you hold them, particularly if you are in the uniform as well. However, with the recent school-shooting in America, I hoped to take a jab about the seeming ease of how crazy people and criminals can get the automatic weapons so easily. Being from Australia and , where gun laws are powerful, school-shooting is an unthinkable thing. Besides, guns make gang-fights so much boring than close-quarter knife fight.

Anyway, that's the explanation about this chapter.

PPS: 'Path to Godhood' remain WH40K + normal world, with the 'chance' for Arthur to cross over later

* * *

**Chapter 5**

**Milky Way Galaxy**

**Sol System**

**Earth**

**USA – Los Angeles**

'**Approximately 2 weeks before the bank robbery'**

Arthur woke up to find his bed almost crushed beneath his body mass. It appeared that Arthur's body didn't actually shrink but it was the energy of the amulet that condensed his form. With enough practice, Arthur was able to change from his normal 'Arthur' look to 'El Sokauron' version within a matter of seconds. Also, he became quite practiced at putting on and taking off Power Armor using his psychic powers. He wanted to be able to put on new Power Armor really quickly and take them off, so practiced.

The next thing he did was to mix and match the Power Armor. While Kha'lath's armor had strong defense, it was rather cumbersome around the arms and legs, and its power pack was somewhat damaged. Arthur made a note of this, and quickly added another set of armor next to his avatar aboard the 'Icon of Despise' so that he could bring back a nice shining armor next time he went to the 40K universe. He replaced Kha'lath's pauldrons, greaves, and the power pack with the ones on Varhir's Power Armor. The scavenging the Power Armor was a difficult thing since he only had crude knowledge of technology, but Varhir and Kha'lath knew enough for Arthur to draw upon.

Once satisfied that his new set of mismatched armor was good enough to move, he carefully hid the other armor pieces in the wardrobes, and decided to head out to LA. He wanted to set up a base of operations, and that required lots of untraceable money. Also, he needed to build up a foundation for his organization. Even as mighty as a Chaos Sorcerer Lord was, he could not possibly conquer the entire planet completely alone. He needed an army, and he knew that the Tzeentchian plans such as becoming a politician and getting elected was not really his style. He wanted to commit acts of atrocity and terrible deed that would drive fear into the hearts of people all over the world.

In order to do that, he needed resources, both physical and personnel. Firstly, he needed to get money. He wore nice clothing he bought with the generous pocket money his parents gave to buy his affection, or at least pretended to buy his affection. Then he headed out in one of the birthday gifts his father bought him, a BMW. It wasn't the newest or the fanciest, but it worked quite well. Arthur had brought about a hundred gold metal balls from the 40K universe, and he estimated, given the price of gold at the time, that he could get about a million dollars, though when actually selling them, he would get much less. Arthur needed some cash at the moment. Living and stuff were no real issue to Arthur, but if he wanted to prepare a mighty bastion to be his stronghold, he needed cash.

Using his sorcery to disguise his BMW as a Lamborghini, he also shrouded himself into looking like a middle-aged man with a hint of 'mob henchman'. The number plate was also shrouded to hide any connection to his real identity. Then he went around several shops to figure out the real price of gold and how much he could get for each gold ball. Upon finding that the gold was 99.999% pure, the shop-owners were very eager to purchase the gold. Arthur made sure that he looked like different person each time he changed his looks, and he eventually sold all of the gold balls, earning him nearly $800k in cash. He did not accept check or transfer, only cash. This, however, had an ulterior motive.

By requesting only cash, several shop owners needed to borrow money from unsavory people. Arthur was so hoping they would. When some of the gangs heard about a small group of mysterious men who rode in Jaguar, BMW, Lamborghini, Ferrari and Mercedes-Benz selling off pure gold in ball forms, they were very interested. Eventually, when Arthur only had a dozen gold balls left to sell; he detected a car following him. He did not change the visage this time, and allowed the gangster car to follow him to a remote place. Arthur's car eventually came to a stop at the docks, and he got out of the car and pretended to talk to someone on the phone, while keeping an eye out with his psychic powers.

It wasn't long before two SUVs filled with gangsters arrived. Yet, before they could turn the corner, Arthur lifted himself and the car into the air with psychic powers and shrouded himself and the car with sorcery. It was good to use psychic powers without the predatory gaze of the Chaos Gods and daemons staring at him. It allowed Arthur to draw in as much psychic power has he wanted within the limit of his strength. Now, instead of taking on the gangsters already, Arthur merely tagged them with his psychic signature. He wanted to find their top boss and with one fell swoop, would take the gangs under his control. Arthur was a Chaos Sorcerer after all, and like all of them, he was very devious.

The next thing he did was to find new identities to buy up the land. Originally, he wanted to acquire identities of homeless, but then there was the issue of IRS. If a homeless man who has declared bankruptcy and disappeared into the void suddenly turned up with a great deal of money, then it would be very suspicious.

Arthur needed different method. He decided to taken on the Casino. Now, in order to fulfill plans, he needed more than the $800K in cash. That was just a seed money. Using different guises, he purchased various chemicals including chemical fertilizers and acetone. To many shopkeepers, he looked like a farmer from nearby but they could not remember exactly whom. They even made small talk, but they forgot about the stranger buying up lots of chemicals, which were individually safe. The CCTVs were mysteriously disrupted during those moments.

Arthur made careful preparations back home, and he liberally used his psychic powers, since there were no daemons to hinder him or turn him into a Warp Spawn. Here, Arthur was god-like with his psychic powers. Only thing he was disappointed with was that because the Warp in this dimension lacked Chaos Gods, the primary energy source of the amulet was rare here. He tried to collect as much negative emotional energy and mix it with just the right amount of positive emotions to feed the amulet, but the whole process was simply exhausting. Arthur felt that he needed to make the world darker and more afraid. He needed humans to act even more inhumane. He needed the humans to become like the Eldar just before their fall. He wanted psychopaths and insane serial killers to roam the streets at will, grabbing people at random and torture them to death for amusement. He needed the Chaos, and he needed in a form that he could understand. He needed the people to be afraid to the point of insanity.

Within a week, Arthur had created no less than 10 large bombs and 50 smaller bombs. Arthur's bombs were extreme crude to look at, and the whole thing would fall apart or explode early without the psychic powers he poured into them. Using tiny shards of amethysts to focus his psychic energies on the bombs, he carefully planted them around the city. Focusing away from where he lived. He even traveled to San Diego and San Francisco to plant the bombs. A large hospital in LA and one in San Francisco were planted with one large bomb and five smaller ones. The LA police HQ, the Hollywood sign, several houses in Malibu, the City Hall were also planted with bombs. There was no better way of entering fear into the people. Even as he planted the bombs, his smiles became darker and more sinister.

Finally, he was ready to carry out the next phase of his plan. The seed money to go to Las Vegas. There would be many souls lost in such city of excess. Slaanesh would have been proud of Las Vegas. Had she/he ever arrived on Earth, she/her would manifest in that city. It was pity, Arthur thought, that he didn't have the tools he needed to cause even greater feats of destruction and terror. Yet, he also knew that these kinds of fears did not last nor were they sustainable. Even as the world searched for sustainable sources of energy and materials, Arthur was also put in the same position. He needed to find a sustainable source of terror, hate, anger, and all the negative emotions of humans that he so enjoyed. Indeed, Arthur should no longer be considered psychopath, since he now felt emotions. It would more appropriate if he was called 'criminally insane' or 'evil'.

Before getting the money he needed, Arthur went to the California National Guard base at 1300 Federal Avenue. Disguised with the psychic shroud, Arthur was able to penetrate through the barriers of mortals. Eventually, he found plenty of bullets, explosives and guns. He also found a small cache of high quality weapons, one of them to be delivered to a certain Detective Jake Adams of LA Police. Others were to be delivered to various individuals along the west coast of USA. It was strange that a police detective would be delivered such powerful weapons. Arthur used his psychic powers to erase the serial numbers and any identifying markers. Now, he was the proud owner of three H&K P30 pistols with three magazines each, three SCAR-H Mk 17 that fired 7.62mm rounds packed with four magazines. Although Arthur wanted a sniper rifle, he could not find a decent one, so he took plenty of ammunition for his guns instead.

After raiding four different military bases around the west coast, Arthur was ready for a small war. He had nearly fifty MP5s with enough bullets to load ten magazines for each weapon. He had nearly eighty pistols of various kinds but of same caliber so that they may fire the same kind of ammunition. He had twenty or so shotguns, and as many rifles. Although he didn't have any sniper rifles, he managed to gain a M240 machine gun with enough ammunition to wipe out a police station. He also had nearly a hundred 400g blocks of C4. Arthur personally thought that the acquisition of C4 was the best thing among all that.

* * *

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* * *

**Milky Way Galaxy**

**Sol System**

**Earth**

**USA – Los Angeles**

'**The day of the bank robbery'**

On that day, the bank was not very full. It was a Wednesday afternoon, and for whatever reason, there were only about ten people working behind the counters and twenty three people were waiting. There were four guards, each armed with a pistol and radio. It looked perfectly normal. The day was warm and the breeze was moderately cool. Inside the bank, the air conditioning was well-done, and it was quite cool, perhaps cool enough to keep the fat man that just entered the bank.

This fat man was quite tall, but he looked like any ordinary man with a problem of obesity. He wasn't so fat as to hinder his movements, but people could see his shirt was quite full in the middle and he seemed to be limping a little. There was an air about him though. There was a slight scent, sweet but not sickening, and more perfume-like than any smell from his perspiration. The man was nearly bold with thin grey hair growing having retreated very far back that his forehead started from the top of his head. He had small eyes, and he wore tiny spectacles that fit more on a doll than on a person's head. Yet, despite these perfect details of the man, people who looked at him began to forget his face even as they stared at him.

Indeed, it was not really a fat man, but it was Arthur in his full gear hidden behind the psychic shroud once more. He thought the shroud was very useful, but to keep his large body size during the WH40K-mode being noticed by others, he intentionally disguised himself as a fat man. He waited in line, carefully making sure that he touched no one. The shroud was a relatively fragile thing, and he didn't want anyone to notice anything funny.

Arthur did not want to rush into things. He was waiting, and just at the right time, the bank's door opened and six guys came in with a large crate on a wheeled-cart, followed by another group with same setting. All Arthur knew was that the carts contained money. He didn't know if they were new or old, or how much there were. All he knew for the moment was that it was a lot of money, as deducted from the heaviness of the carts' movements.

Smiling to himself, he waited until the twelve guards who delivered the money left, and saw them driving away. Finally, the pieces were coming together. He would take the money, go to Las Vegas, use the money to win some money, then he would purchase the souls of those who are desperate. He would tempt them, like Tzeentch would, and show them pleasures and pains of Slaanesh, and threaten them with the foul generosity of Nurgle, or just infect them with the blood lust of Khorne. Las Vegas was the city of sins, and Chaos would fit right in.

Just as he was standing up to approach the nearest bank teller, something totally unexpected happened.

"Alright! Nobody move!"

Eight men in hoods with MP5s, shotguns and pistols rushed in, knocking out the guards or disarming them with punches or threat of their guns. Then the screaming began. Some women screamed hysterically, while others just huddled together as they robbers forced him to sit down on the floor.

"You! You! All of you, move away from your desks! I don't want anyone getting any ideas!"

Arthur was shocked. Even with his psychic powers, he did not see this coming. It was a strange feeling how he was unable to foresee this turn of events. He almost chuckled he felt waves of joy at the terrified expressions of people.

Two robbers locked the doors and guarded them, while four took charge of hostages, and last two went with the manager toward the vault. Arthur pondered his move. He could keep quiet and hide himself. A fully Tzeentchian Chaos Lord would have done so, but Arthur was not of Tzeentch. He preferred terrorizing his enemies like the Night Lords do.

"I suppose, I will have to reveal myself here..."

He muttered so quietly that nobody heard him. Slowly, Arthur stood up, and others saw the fat guy grunting as he used all his energy to stand up. The leader among the bank robbers saw Arthur's disguised form.

"Hey, fatso! I said, sit down! If you want to pee or shit, do it in your pants!"

Arthur ignored the moronic man's threats. He looked around at the six robbers not in the vault. He momentarily considered killing them with his game powers, but he was almost certain that they would not work, or if they did, then it would cost so much more energy. Killing these did not require the might of his amulet.

The leader came up so close to Arthur.

"Hey, chub-chub! I said, get the f**ck down!"

Arthur chuckled darkly.

"Your insolence amuses me to no end."

Arthur's voice was dark and low, so far from the original Arthur's voice. Indeed, he was using the deep and coarse voice of Kha'lath and Varhir combined.

The leader seemed infuriated by Arthur's response, and pointed the Beretta 9mm at Arthur's head.

"You want to die, chubs?"

Arthur chuckled as if he did not care about the gun pointed at his head.

"I think I will kill you slowly."

"Kill me?"

The leader bank robber was surprised.

"Yes. Painfully, and slowly. I shall enjoy your screams."

At Arthur's answer, the leader robber decided that it was not worth the effort.

"Insane fat f**k."

Arthur's smile grew as the leader turned.

"Turn around, worm!"

Being called a worm, the leader turned, his face red.

"You... What?"

He paused. The leader bank robber blinked in pain spreading from his belly, but there was no sound of gun, so it wasn't one of his men betraying him. He looked down, and he saw his own blood slowly making its way down the blade of a sword, and the rest of the sword was invisible, and he could see the single drop of blood traveled down the blade and touched the fat man's right hand.

"What is this?"

"I told you, I will kill you. You did not listen."

The invisible sword revealed itself just as Arthur shed the fat-man disguise. His stature in full armor grew to the immense height of over 9'10", or 3m. The dragon-head exhaust port hissed poisonous steam, while the darkly painted crimson and black armor gleamed menacingly in the artificial light. The gold trimmed greaves moved a little and drove the little mortal bandit backward, also driving the sword deeper.

"I also told you that I will kill you slowly."

Arthur's words crackled with psychic might, and though there was a hole in the man's chest, the robber stopped bleeding. He was still in pain, and was rolling on the floor. It was then the robbers woke up from their moment of stunned silence.

"WHAT THE F**K!"

The bandit group's second in command, a large burly man with a machete on his belt shouted before he pointed his Desert Eagle at Arthur's head. Yet, Arthur was not fazed for a second. To him, these robbers were less than that of an ant about to be crushed beneath a boot.

"You men, you will obey me or you will die."

"What? F**K YOU!"

Blam! Blam-blam-blam-blam! Blam! Blam!

All seven rounds were fired from the Desert Eagle's meager magazine. Sparks flew, but all they saw as the result were the seven flattened lead pieces that fell from the Power Armor, which was unscathed by the attack.

"You, I have made no such promise to kill painfully or slowly. Die."

Arthur spoke with such finality that the bandit's second leader had no chance to complete the reload of his weapon. Raising his Plasma Pistol, Arthur squeezed two rounds into the man.

"Now, where were we? Ah, the robbing of the bank. I like it!"

* * *

**END OF CHAPTER 5 **


	6. Chapter 6

New chapter! Yay! Oh, and Arthur has made his first monster!

ENJOY! Happy New Year!

* * *

**Chapter 6**

**Milky Way Galaxy  
Sol System  
Earth  
USA – Los Angeles  
**'**The day of the bank robbery'**

Arthur chuckled as he surveyed the bank. These people were afraid. He could see that the hostages were terrified. These people probably have never seen murder beyond the TV screens, and even if they did, they probably hadn't seen such gruesome murder.

"You!"

Arthur pointed at one of the robbers.

"Me?"

Thin whips of lightning extended forth from Arthur's fingers and struck the robber.

"You will speak with proper respect, worm. You may call me 'Lord El Sokauron'."

The bank robber gritted his teeth as his body suffered a spasm of pain coursing through every nerve in his body. With every ounce of strength, the robber answered the Chaos Sorcerer Lord.

"Yes... Lord El Sokauron."

"Now, just find that alarm button and press it. I wish to see how the police responds to me."

Arthur really wanted to try out his strength and power in his universe that lacked superheroes or Dark Gods. He wanted to terrorize the people. He felt the fear around him. He breathed in. Though he did not 'need' them, they amplified his psychic powers.

As the sirens began to approach, Arthur looked down at the former leader of the bank robbers, lying sprawled on the floor with a large gaping wound and eyes wide with fear and pain.

"Before I deal with the police, I have to fulfill my promise to give you pain."

Chuckling darkly, Arthur drew a knife from his belt. The knife was an item of Chaos, particularly of Slaanesh. It caused extreme pain, and with just a few cuts, it could drive a strong mind to speak all his secrets.

"For this item, I speak a moment of supplication to you, great Prince of Excess. Even here, where your essence cannot reach, I give you an offering of this mortal's pain."

Arthur knew that it was a very slim chance that Slaanesh could reach this universe, but even without an access to Slaanesh, there was enough fragment of the Chaos God of Pleasure and Pain to inflict horrible damage to the human.

Slick!

It was a small cut, but the man's eyes bulged as he screamed on top of his lungs. His coarse man-howls quickly turned to girly-shrieks, as his throat quickly gave way to the intensity of his screams.

His screams resulted in a series of shallow cuts, where the knife had barely even touched the surface of his skin, which transported the minds of those who watched to the extremes of terror. No sooner had Arthur shifted the blade beneath the layers of the robber's skins to reveal the blood-covered muscles, than there dropped from his eyes tears of blood. So painful were the cuts that the capillaries of his eyes exploded in a glorious spray of blood and eventually dripped down the side of his eyes.

Arthur enjoyed the man's sufferings and pains and fear. There was so much fear. He could feel it multiply from the hearts of the innocents held hostage as well as the robbers that now followed the Chaos Lord's commands. It was like the blackest ink dropped into the clearest water in a beaker with whitest sheet of paper held up behind it. Like that drop of ink, the fear began to dye small corners of the silent and calm Warp in this universe. It was truly unfortunate that nobody here was a psyker or even had a glimpse of such cursed talent.

The angry roars of sirens arrived. Arthur turned to the robbers.

"Go to the window and fire your pitiful excuse for guns at the heroic police. I do not wish to be interrupted before I can completely skin this man."

The words were so laden with psychic powers, that mortal and fragile minds of these bank robbers were instantly caught in the webs of the Sorcerer's unspoken spell. Even as Arthur turned back to the former leader bandit and put the knife to the forehead, the bandits fired through the window at the police, fully knowing that their attacks was a bad idea for the robbers.

The skinning of the bank robbers' former leader had ended very quickly, as Arthur had no intention of dragging it on when it earned him very little terror. The hostages were already frightened nearly to the point of insanity. When Arthur turned his head to look at the hostages, they let out tiny screams filled with such horror of minds that Arthur so enjoyed it. Even as their fear slowly tainted the tiny area of Warp around them, Arthur felt his sorcery becoming even more powerful.

"Urgh..."

Soft was the sound of the dying man's gurgle of blood. Unable to process the pain so inflicted upon his person, the man's soul twisted and turned even as his death sent the soul directly into Arthur's amulet. Arthur felt the soul fill up a tiny bit of the amulet, and also felt that it was a tiny bit more than the one killed by his Plasma Pistol.

He made a mental note. A tortured, frightened soul was a little valuable than normal ones.

Screeching, slippery, stream of shadows of black glutinous terror filled the minds of those watching the skinning, and the Chaos Lord enjoyed it. Then, in a ponderous moment, he turned to the hostages. There was a teenage girl of around seventeen and her mother in her late thirties, so huddled together as if that would protect them. He chuckled darkly as he approached them.

"Do you fear me, girl?"

The girl nodded, and her mother simply held her daughter in tighter embrace. Somewhere deep inside Arthur's psyche, he found the scene obscene and horrifying. He had never seen his mother ever so loving of him. There was no love between Arthur and his mother. There was a mutual loathsomeness that they barely tried to hide from each other. Arthur, though he was no longer entirely Arthur Martin, still hated the love between the mother and the girl. Sickened by it, and made crueller by that hate, he now turned to the mother.

"If I were to tell you that there is way for your daughter to get out of here safely, then would you take that option, no matter what that is?"

He saw that the woman was not about to make rational decision. Fear had driven all her reason to retreat to the furthest corners of her consciousness. Arthur's psychic powers went work even without a single word from the Chaos Sorcerer Lord. The mother's fears were like a nest full of dark and poisonous snakes chasing one another's tails within a dark and phantasmal rooms of secrets that bore nothing but pain. Ah, there was a secret, thought Arthur, and his eyes glowed in anticipation.

"Yes, please~! Let my daughter go!"

"If you tell her the 'secret', then I will 'let her go'."

The woman paused. The daughter looked curious. What secret could it be that her mother suddenly went pale? The Sorcerer Lord could have laughed out aloud as the fear within the older woman magnified. He did not think it possible that this woman's fear would get any greater, but then the secret that hid for so many years had brought even greater fear of things.

"I... I... I can't!"

"Oh, yes, you can! Do you not want to 'remove' your daughter from this place of horror?"

She nodded. Then looking at her daughter with such sorrow that would have brought a pack of wolves to tear, she spoke the truth.

"You were adopted."

"That is not the entire truth. You can say it now. Let the burden fall from your heart."

The whispers of the Sorcerer was like formless phantasms mutating into ever-changing nightmares of hell, and she felt, perhaps prompted by the weaves of sorcery, that to let out all the truth would free her from the nightmare.

"You were adopted because we needed your heart. My son had a heart condition, and you were a genetic match... but he died before we could figure out how to make you give up your heart... and after he died, I said we should just keep you..."

Her words faltered.

"Because you felt guilty! I see your thoughts! You were trying to get her into an accident that would kill her but protect the heart, so that the heart could be transplanted into the boy with no questions asked... Brilliant! You could serve me well had you been a younger creature."

The Chaos Lord was pleased at the hate and disgust filling the eyes of the girl. The mother soon realised what she had revealed, and was horrified. The Dark Lord turned to the girl.

"I will give you an option, girl. I will give you this knife, and if you either cut out your own heart, or cut out her heart, then I shall 'free' whoever is left alive. It shall be your choice."

The girl's eyes filled with hate, and though she did not know, but her mind was no longer the blue sky with white puffy clouds. Now it was a purple fulgurous sky of hate so thick as to make the air opaque. Her hate fought against her fading love for her mother, like forests of monstrous oaks and serpentine roots squirming and crushing the gentle flowers of love.

The girl pointed the knife at her adopted mother. The mother's eyes glazed over as fear and the primal need to survive struggled against a mother's love. Yet, in this domain of fear, love could not win. The daughter lunged first, bring the knife to pierce the woman, and the woman fought back with nails and teeth, trying to choke her daughter while grabbing the knife-holding hand of her daughter. As they struggled, Arthur laughed, and with a single breath, gathered up all the fear that now infected the Warp. He could have let it fester there, but he wanted to try something.

There was a spell among the commonly used psychic sorceries of Chaos Sorcerers called the 'Gift of Chaos'. A sorcerer would tap into the Chaos-tainted Warp and envelope a target with that unwholesome energy. With its flesh and soul being saturated by the raw energies of the Warp, the target mutates into horrible creatures before the mutation becomes too much to bear, and the flesh rends itself and the soul becomes fragmented and charred only to be consumed by the Chaos Gods. If the target somehow survives then it becomes a Chaos Spawn, a foul twisted insane creature of frightening mutation. Unfortunately, this universe's Warp was calm like clean water. There were some minor fluctuation here and there, but with humans being far from being a psyker race, the Chaos was almost non-existent here.

This was both a boon and a disappointment for Arthur. Without the Chaos Gods, he could manipulate the Warp to a level that no psyker has never been capable of doing on the other side. On the other hand, he wanted to mutate the survivor of the fight between the mother and the daughter, and without Chaos, it would just make the person stronger and faster. Indeed, pure Warp was such potent thing. When pure and the channelled through a person, the person's DNA and will fortified, the muscle density grows while diseases remove themselves. Throughout history, there were stories of people capable of such feat. The ancient martial artists in the Far East Asia learned to channel the Warp, which they called Ki or Chi (氣). The magicians of the West and shamans of other cultures also used the Warp in their own ways. However, with the industrial development, the barrier between the Warp and the reality became clogged, and such powerful beings were no more.

Thus, Arthur had to use up all of the precious taint of fear in the bank just to cast a single spell.

"ARGH!"

The mother screamed as the knife of Slaaneshi blessing made a small cut. The pain was intense, and that gave an opening. With all her strength, the daughter drove the knife into the mother's chest. The mother screamed once more, and Arthur felt the soul drain from the body and and absorbed by his amulet. Yet, since he did not kill the woman, the result of the collection was even less than the one who got killed by Plasma Pistol.

Still, he had achieved much in such short time. Breathing in more fear from other hostages, Arthur turned to the girl, who had now dropped the knife and sobbing. Her fear gave way to intense sorrow and guilt. She was crying. That sobbing made an idea come to Arthur's mind.

He had long enjoyed the 'Left 4 Dead' series, and one of his favourite creatures was the Witch. Smiling behind his Sorcerer helmet, he put away his word, and poured the collected fear-tainted Warp into his right hand. It glowed in pulsating indigo like a tiny LED light.

"As I've promised. I will 'free' you. I will 'free' you from sanity."

His right palm touched the girl's head, and the power of the Warp, so raw and so tainted and tweaked by the Chaos Sorcerer Lord, entered her. Her brain began to mutate, quickly followed by her spines and bones. Her heart changed, and from her bone marrows flow new blood, no longer red but dark indigo, while her skin changed colour to hide the change in blood that would surely have turned her skin-colour. Her fingernails fell, then new ones grew. The new nails were nearly 30cm or 11 inches, and they were metallic and sharp and retractable. Her muscle fibres twisted and turned and coiled themselves into new ways. Her internal organs changed too, and she now had a secondary set of teeth, protruding behind her human-set when needed. Her iris now contained tiny sliver of red and indigo, and her hair seemed to darken a little.

Arthur bent down, and whispered to her ear.

"Rise, little Witch, but not yet. Soon... Soon, you will bring fear into the hearts and minds of all those around you. When I order you, you shall act."

The girl's laboured breathing calmed down, and she fell asleep.

Suddenly, one of the bank's landline phones rang. The bank robbers, who had stopped shooting in a moment of cease-fire from the police, all looked at Arthur.

"At last! The negotiator! I loved that movie."

After the call, during which the brilliant mind of a Chaos Sorcerer came in handy, the police negotiator brought a camera and three men. Of course, the psychic visions of the Chaos Sorcerer revealed that except for the reporter, the two others were police SWAT in disguise. It did not matter, of course, since Arthur was going to kill all three anyway.

Confiscating one of the hostages iPad and turning on a TV application, Arthur made sure that the camera will run live. Of course, the police were confident that they could rescue the hostages in a combined effort between the two cops in disguise and a SWAT team that would break through to the bank. They wanted to show how brave the police was by filming the live-rescue of hostages. They did not expect a huge armoured man with sword and six equally terrified bank robbers.

The reporter came up to Arthur, taking a tiny glance at the skinned corpse on the floor.

"So… hello."

The reporter pointed the microphone to Arthur. Arthur didn't ask the camera for personal profile.

"Silence. I wish to speak to the people."

"Uh… okay. Go ahead."

With a chuckle, Arthur suddenly drove his Power Sword into the reporter's belly with such force that the tip of the blade came out the other end.

"I am Lord El Sokauron the Terrorbringer! I come to bring you FEAR! Witness the slaughter of innocents!"

"ARGH!"

The reporter screamed as Arthur lifted his sword up vertically, and the reporter began to slide down the blade, causing him more pain. Then the disguised police SWAM members took out their hidden pistols.

"Let him go, you mother**ker!"

The Chaos Sorcerer Lord merely sneered as the lead-tipped bullets simply bounced off his armour or flattened themselves against the might of a Power Armour.

Taking a moment of satisfaction, Arthur pointed his Plasma Pistol at the officer on the left and fired. With a small flash, there was a large but shallow charred hole in the chest of the officer, the flesh burned to crisp and smoke coming out of the body even as it fell. The other officer was enraged.

"What the f**k! Michael! You killed Michael!"

The other disguised officer ran up to Arthur, obviously trying to place his gun into the gap between the helmet and the armour, which could have been much more effective. However, Arthur was not amused by the officer's antics. With a mere flick of his elbow, the Chaos Lord aimed the Plasma Pistol at the officer who was charging him. Everything seemed as if it slowed, but it was just the perception. Arthur chuckled darkly as he squeezed the trigger, sending forth a bolt of super-heated plasma at the officer's head. The mortal law enforcer's head nearly exploded as the vaporised flesh and brain matter expanded exponentially. Even as the plasma burned off his face, it set fire to the brain. The man slowly fell, unable to fire one more shot at the Chaos Sorcerer Lord.

Turning to the bank robbers who looked even scared than ever before, he commanded them to rally the hostages. He left his little 'Witch' alone before taking two other teenagers and three in their twenties. With a dangerous growl, he ordered the other hostages to sit in a circle with their backs against each other. He then placed a single Frag Grenade in the middle, and cast a spell. It would explode if someone touched it, or if one of the hostages moved away. He told them so, because he didn't want the grenade to go off just yet. Ordering the bank robbers to grab the bags filled with cash, he led them outside.

Right outside the bank was a veritable battlefield, and the Chaos Lord in Arthur loved it.

* * *

**END OF CHAPTER 6**


	7. Chapter 7

Happy New Year, everyone! Let's start the new year with a new chapter!

* * *

**Chapter 7**

**Milky Way Galaxy**

**Sol System**

**Earth**

**USA – Los Angeles**

'**The day of the bank robbery'**

Arthur felt five powerful shots through his helmet. Yet, as he felt the impact and the laws of physics demanded that fall backward, his physical and psychic might held their grounds, allowing him to shrug off the dire impact that kept the ringing sound within the helmet. To tell the truth, he did not expect such rapid strike. He felt that the hostages and the bank robbers scattered the moment the snipers fired upon him.

Suddenly, in a fluid motion that even surprised Arthur, a man in brown trench coat leaped out from behind a cop car and fired his large gun. The nerd in Arthur recognized the gun, which he had used when he played Rainbow Six: Vegas 2. It was Arthur's favorite gun as it combined both the intense firepower and high rate of fire of a machine gun without the extra-long reloading time. The H&K G36 let loose its 100 bullets at the Chaos Lord, and the sparks flew. Behind the helmet, Arthur felt every bullet as the Power Armor's Machine Spirit (or Damage Recognition Software that came standard with the OS of the Power Armor as Arthur has since discovered) relayed the attack through both the holographic display of the helmet and directly to the brain through the Black Carapace.

Arthur almost sighed in disappointment as the intensity of the attack barely forced him back less than half a step. He then saw the man. Something was about this man that Arthur felt was a little off. Even in that second, Arthur's psychic powers flared and delved into the police detective who fired the G36.

~Jake Adams~

That was the only thing he could find before some sort of mental barrier went up. Now, Arthur was surprised. Though the mental barrier was crude, it was definitely a sign of a psychic potential. This 'Jake Adams' was a psyker, albeit only at Omicron or Xi level at best. It was encouraging that there was a psyker in this world. He made another mental note to delve into this. He stared at Jake Adams and spoke in low voice.

"You are interesting, detective Adams."

Now, Jake was beyond surprised when the giant psycho killer in the massive armor spoke his name.

"What! How do you know my name?"

Arthur chuckled. His answer was a slash with his sword. He wanted to cut off the man's arm before conversing with him. From the knowledge of Varhir, he knew that psykers of such low levels as Omicron or Xi to Lambda or Kappa could manifest psychic events in moments of distress.

"F**K!"

Jake felt the blade move. Arthur moved his sword so fast that Jake had barely had the time to see it, but Jake felt it, and with all this strength and training, Jake lifted his G36 to block the sword while taking a single step back and out.

With a sound like a silenced pistol firing, the sturdy body of the gun made of carbon fiber-reinforced polyamide was cut as if it was a cake. Yet, Jake had moved just enough that the sword did not cut him.

Jake's evasion had impressed Arthur and he felt a momentary fluctuation of Jake's psychic power. It rose from around Xi level to nearly Kappa level in that brief moment.

"Your powers seem unnatural, Jake Adams. Someone did something to enhance it... is it anything to do with why there was a box of guns with your name on it in the California National Guard base?"

Arthur's questions freaked out Jake more than all the killings. The secrets of the experiments he had participated were critical to national security.

"What the hell are you?"

Jake asked Arthur, but Arthur was not about to give him an interview.

"You already know my name. I am El Sokauron the Terrorbringer. You are Jake Adams the Police Detective and I want to know where you were experimented on. You will tell me or I shall kill your fellow police officers!"

Arthur took a step forward and Jake fell back, tripping and falling on his ass. Another five volleys of sniper fire impacted Arthur's shoulder pauldrons and helmet, but the armor's polarized plating technology had formed a thin but powerful field around itself, deflecting the bullets or minimizing the impact. Annoyed about the interruption, Arthur pointed his sword at one of the roofs.

"Doom Bolt!"

He whispered, but it was enough to trigger the attack. From his sword, nine blue-and-purple bolts of Warp exploded outward, speeding toward the building's roof. It was indeed the channeling of the Sorcerer's hate, and the combined hate of Arthur, Kha'lath and Varhir was powerful enough to cast nine bolts, nine being the holy number of the Chaos God Tzeentch, the Lord of Sorcery.

Explosion rocked the surroundings and the corpses of two men, one sniper and his supporter fell from the broken rooftop. Arthur smiled as his amulet devoured the souls of two brave men, whose souls have been strengthened by the training and fortitude of will and principle. Arthur then turned his attention back to Jake.

"Now, you shall reveal to me all that you know."

The situation was dire. Jake had the tip of Arthur's sword almost touching the right eyebrows, and the police were frozen in shock at what they've just witnessed. After all, what they just witnessed was something that nobody would believe.

"Hey!"

Arthur quickly looked up at someone shouting. Though Arthur did not know, it was Barry who dared shout at the Chaos Lord, and Barry had a shotgun. Having ran up to Arthur with surprising agility for chubby aging cop, Jake's partner fired his shotgun at Arthur's face. The impact and the surprise forced Arthur's head to tilt back a little, which was a greater result than any other attacks until then.

"YOU F**K! HOW DARE YOU ASSAIL ME! I WILL TEAR YOUR SOUL OUT!"

Arthur roared in such unexpected pain. The shotgun fired numerous pallets of tiny size, and one of such pallets had entered the helmet's narrow opening. It struck Arthur's eye, and though the angle had seen to it that the eye itself was undamaged, the pain was unmistakeable. The Power Sword lifted up and came down hard upon the man.

"Barry! NO!"

With no scream, no howl of pain, the man split in two as the blade made its way through from the top of the skull to the groin. With wet splat, the man's two halves fell sideways, and the Power Sword glowed dangerously. Arthur laughed out aloud, pleased at the retribution that he had dealt out as well as the valuable soul of the old man filled the amulet. The man seemed to have garnered much karma over his years, and most it had been good. That just made his soul that much valuable.

"Souls of heroes are truly worth the effort! Such succulence in just once soul! Your LAPD must be full of such heroes, and I shall delight myself in devouring their souls!"

Roaring in dark joy, Arthur raised his Plasma Pistol and randomly fired at the SWAT team, though each shot was accurate enough to kill an officer. Within a blinking moment, four members of SWAT fell, their chests and stomachs charred black and their organs exploded.

Arthur spun around and growled at the six bank robbers still on the ground with their hands over their heads.

"YOU! Grab the bags and put them in the SWAT van!"

"But..."

"OBEY!"

The psychic roar brought the weak-willed bank robbers to attention. Arthur decided that Jake was a matter to be dealt later, so he turned to the SWAT, whose members had scattered when Arthur fired the deadly barrage of plasma. The police attempted to return fire but Arthur was faster.

With his armored legs moving faster than what should have been possible, Arthur was already amid the SWAT team, and he struck them down. The Power Sword cut through three officers and his Plasma Pistol killed two more, and there was even one police officer stomped in the head by Arthur's merciless foot.

"The bag are all loaded... ugh!"

One of the robbers reported to Arthur but someone shot the criminal in the back. Arthur quickly looked and Jake was back on his feet, and with intense rage in his eyes, fired his pistol at the hapless robbers.

"Ah! Your blood lust has been awakened!"

"Shut the f**k up, you insane f**k!"

Jake rebuked Arthur, but Arthur was a Lord of Chaos. Such banter did not bother him much.

"I am sorry, but I must be going now, but I have left a little present back in your police HQ. I hope you like it."

Then with a powerful psychic spell, Arthur disappeared in a flash, quickly followed by the SWAT van loaded with bags of cash, and the five remaining bank robbers disappeared.

All that remained at the scene were a dozen ruined police cars, Thirteen dead police officers and deafening silence. So quick was the battle, and so utterly unmatched was their enemy, the LA's finest could do nothing but stare at where the SWAT van had disappeared.

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* * *

**Milky Way Galaxy**

**Sol System**

**Earth**

**USA – Near Las Vegas**

**Ten minutes later**

Arthur put the key into the car he had secretly parked on the side of the road near Las Vegas. Enshrouded in psychic spell, it had been invisible for nearly a whole day, but now Arthur was back. He hummed as he turned his head and looked at the suitcase full of cash.

"Well, I thought that was a nice morning exercise."

He muttered to himself as he drove the nice BMW M6 convertible with San Marino Blue coat, 20"M Double-spoke 343M tyres, and Full leather 'Merino' Sakhir Orange interior finishing. He liked the car even if he bought it with money he had stolen. The number plate was not even his, but ripped from another BMW he happened to pass by. Since he had planted a little illusion, the car's owner would not know his number plates are missing until he touched it or until the spell ended, whichever came first.

Meanwhile, Arthur was pleased not only for the successful bank robbery, but also for the souls he had consumed within the short period of time. Twenty three people killed by his hand and a woman sacrificed in his name was quite good. The last five kills were the poor bank robbers teleported with the van to the middle of the desert, where Arthur personally executed them with his armored hands. Arthur took particular care with their murders, inflicting as much horror and despair as possible. Then, he transferred the cash into the bags he had prepared. Three generic suitcases and other larger carryalls were filled with cash, and he took about ten thousand dollars into his wallet.

As for the SWAT van, Arthur ransacked all the weapons and teleported them to the self-storage he had rented. They were going to be useful later on, particularly since Arthur was quite wary of arming his future human army with the weapons of 40K universe. His powers and positions was not quite strong enough to allow that. It was really fortunate for Arthur that he could use his psychic powers so easily on this side of the portal. The Warp was like a swimming pool filled with clean water. There was only very minor waves of water, and it was still clean and pure. In the Warhammer 40K universe, the Warp was like a pool of water heavily polluted by industrial wastes during a very powerful storm. The water would form great waves and the horrors within the waters would delight themselves with the souls of the fallen. In such waters, making waves of your own was difficult at best, but here, the only waves made were that of Arthur's.

"Well, not quite... I've begun corrupting the Warp here with a little fear, and then there is Detective Jake Adams. An early evolution of psyker, experimented for certain... What drug though? Hmmm..."

As he drove toward Las Vegas, he mouthed the words, trying to see through the veils of untruth and distractions. Yet, even in the calm Warp, divining was difficult, particularly since he was not a devotee of Tzeentch.

"At least, my presence should alert whoever experimented on Adams... and then they will reveal themselves trying to find me."

Chuckling darkly, he enacted another illusion upon himself, and he was suddenly a sharp-looking Italian-descent with nice suits and mob-like atmosphere around him.

"I think it's time to find myself a follower."

* * *

**Las Vegas**

Las Vegas.

Las Vegas was a city of a thousand sins, and its people as corrupted as the denizens of the Warp. Perhaps, that's a little exaggeration, but to Arthur, Vegas was a fruit tree with plenty of ripe fruits to pick. It was as much city of delight and pleasure as it was a city of despair. Thousand of people lose everything through their addiction to gambling, and when they no longer have anything to gamble with, they realise that their lives have been broken beyond repair. Then, they despair, and despair is another speciality of Arthur.

He checked into the MGM Grand, and though he had no reservations, a little sorcery and display of several thousand-dollar notes had done their work and secured him a suite for him to use. Two bellboys carried all may bags to his suite, and he leisurely checked into the suite. Once he had put away the bags in the proper places and cast spells to prevent unexpected theft, he went out to enjoy the day. Arthur wanted wait until the night was deep before he acted. Besides, it was his first time coming to Vegas, so he wanted to enjoy himself a while before acting, and turned on the TV.

On the TV was the news about a series of bombings across the southern California, including the LAPD HQ. Yet, there was nothing about the bank robbery.

"Someone has stifled the report on the robbery. How interesting..."

After watching the TV for a while, he took a little nap, or what looked like a nap. It was more of a mediation to collect his thoughts and prepare further plans to sow terror, despair and death in this world. To Arthur, there was no greater pleasures than seeing the world squirm in endless despair and fear that could not be broken.

Waking just as the sun began to go down but the street lights still off, he picked up the phone by the bed.

"Hello."

-Yes, Mr D'Amore, how may I help you?-

Fabio D'Armore was the name and identity Arthur used to check in, and the mind of the manager was so weak that it was easy force it upon her.

"I want to hire some female escorts. You will find me some."

He hear the female manager's voice a little surprised. He half-expected to hear some bullshit about how MGM Grand was an establishment of certain reputation and all that. Yet, perhaps it was his money that bent the rules.

-Of course, sir.-

"Write this down. I want one blonde and one brunette. No tattoos, and they must look classy. I don't mind if they are extra-expensive. I want you to bring me a selection of girls, and tell them I will pay a thousand dollars just to come out so that I may look upon them and choose. Also, book me into one of your restaurants for three, and I will be there after I've met the girls."

The arrogance was oozing in his voice, but there was something in his voice.

-Of course, sir. We at MGM Grand wishes you a good evening, sir.-

Arthur chuckled. Neither this woman nor anyone else who might pry into him would only find a playboy with a lot of money, but like all Chaos Sorcerers, there were much going on behind the play.

He laid out his suit and clothes he would wear for the night, and took a long and hot shower. When he finished and came out of the shower with his hair dripping in water, or at least it looked like so under the guise, someone knocked on the door. He hid his dark grin and calmly spoke.

"Enter."

"Mr D'Armore, I have brought... Oh, excuse me!"

The female manager paused she saw Arthur's body rippling with muscles. Not that there was no muscle behind the illusion, but he couldn't really show the Black Carapace to the mortals.

"No need to be shy. Bring in the girls."

"Yes, Mr D'Armore."

There were eight girls in total, five brunettes and three blondes, each wearing their best clothes. They all dressed up in tight dresses that revealed much of their succulent flesh. Now, they had hot-looking clients before but never someone like Arthur, or Mr D'Armore.

"Hmmm... Her... Her... and her... all three."

Arthur took out his wallet and took out five thousand-dollar notes, and gave them to the girls who were not chosen. As for the chosen, he smiled and gave them three thousand dollars each.

"This is for now, and if I still like you after dinner and shopping, then I will see if I still want to hire you further."

After the manager and other girls left, Arthur slowly got dressed as the girls watched him. Although the three girls saw him as a rich mark with good looks, the Chaos Lord was planning something dark and twisted. First, he needed to build a rapport with the girls.

"So, let's introduce each other. My name is Fabio, Fabio D'Amore. Tonight, I want to take you out to nice dinner here at the hotel restaurant, and then go for some shopping before heading to the casino. We can come back to my suite after I've had some fun at the casino. Any problem with that?"

They all shook their heads. Of course, they didn't have any problem with such things. They were 'escorts' and expensive ones at that. Once he broke the ice by giving his 'name' and plans for the night, they also introduced themselves. The blonde was Sandra, while the brunettes were Sylvia and Josephine.

After dressing in his nice and expensive suit, he really took them out to dinner. In fact, he wasn't sleazy at all. He was charming, and attentive. Soon, each of the three girls were quite into him, despite knowing that they were still just escorts and he was some rich guy. Yet, they could not help falling for him. Little by little, they began to find other two girls rather annoying, and felt jealous every time Fabio spoke with them. By the time they finished their dinner and got in the rented limousine, the girls were ready to rip each other's hair out over Fabio. They wanted to anything for the man, even whispering in his ears such sordid and debasing thing they would love to do in bed for him.

Fabio was even nicer when they were shopping. He purchased two more suits and a nice casual clothes, then bought a few things for the girls. Soon, their limousine was full of dresses, jewellery and other items that he bought for the girls. After the shopping, they decided to drop off the bags in his suite before heading down to the casino. By this time, the girls were in his hands like puppets looking up at their master to play with them. They were so mesmerised that they felt that they would sleep with the man with or without pay.

After a dozen rounds of cards on the casino floor where he lost a few thousand dollars without even blinking, they all went up to his suite, where they drank a lot of alcohol and then had intense sex. Then, something else happened. As they all lay there, panting from the after effects of multiple orgasms, his words began to enter their minds like whispers in the dark. He asked about their lives before Vegas, and how sorry he felt about their desperate childhood. Apparently, all three girls were abused as children in many ways. They were starved, hated, beaten, and sexually molested until their psyche was left with enormous scars.

As they talked more with him, they felt even worse about their past, which used to have faded amid their endless nights of partying and clubbing. Sobs were heard, and soon, all three girls were crying their hearts out to him. He whispered into minds more and more about the despair that they were feeling. He told them, that though he did not think so, the rest of the world thinks of them as failures, sluts, whores and worse. He told them that he didn't mind their past, and he loved them all, but the 'world', and everyone else in it hated them so much. He told them that they should fear the world and all its inhumane horrors wrought by the humans themselves. They understood it, though it originally sounded like some philosophy crap that they had skipped out during high school. Then they despaired. They were afraid, and the only person that loved them was Fabio.

He told them that if they were 'good' girls, then he would still love them, but if they were 'bad', then perhaps he would hate them too.

They were terrified. They hated the very idea that he would hate them. They wanted his love. They wanted to be wanted by him. So, they asked. They asked what can these unworthy souls could satisfy their master? What things can they do when they had nothing and no one? Fabio spoke like a god. His words entered their minds and souls, and twisted and bent what was inside. He told them what to do, and how to do it, and told them about 'fear', and how people should 'fear' the girls and 'fear' their neighbours, and 'fear' everything. They need to be afraid, because they deserved such fate. The girls totally agreed.

The next morning, Fabio gave them a hundred thousand dollars each, and sent them on their way. Fully knowing the evil he had just seeded in their hearts, the Chaos Sorcerer Lord Arthur chuckled.

* * *

**END OF CHAPTER 7 **


	8. Chapter 8

Yay! New chapter, and it may be even darker. I've been reading more of Lovecraft and Lovecraft-inspired stories... Heheheheh...  
Enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter 8**

**Milky Way Galaxy**

**Sol System**

**Earth**

**USA – Las Vegas**

"Turn here. I want to go through the back door today. It feels funny."

The notorious loan-shark Mikael Rompson spoke to his driver. He was a man in a dangerous industry, and while he had made a fortune in this city, he also had made many powerful enemies and rivals who were jealous of his success. So, he always took precautions against assassination. This included three blacked out SUVs filled with his bodyguards, and he randomly rode in one of the three SUVs so that his enemies won't know which one to shoot. He was also a religious man, and his strong Catholic belief had endeared him to his wife since he had no mistresses.

"We are here, boss."

"Good, and don't forget the Lemarke account. He still owes me three hundred grand by the end of the month."

"Sure boss."

"Don't just say 'sure' and forget about it. Ask Emile to put it in the calender and if he doesn't pay the whole thing or the interest, send someone to collect the interest from him."

"Send who, boss?"

"Umm... Send Hayden and Donatello, and maybe Teeth, if you think Lemarke would try to resist."

"Okay, boss."

"Gee... Why do I surround myself with idiots?"

He grabbed the silver cross hanging around his neck and kissed it for good luck before exiting his car. Then as he and ten of his bodyguards entered the shady alley behind one of his safe houses, the half dozen dim streetlights that filled the alley suddenly turned themselves off.

"What? Boys!"

At his word, the bodyguards all took out their pistols. Carrying automatic weapon without a license was a big offence and even the most corrupt cops won't let it go so easy, so they had to carry pistols. While that didn't mean they had hidden automatic weapons in the cars or in the safe houses, they could not find their SUVs when they turned around. Instead of three SUVs and an opening to a main street, they only saw black. There was nothing but absolute darkness that surrounded them. Even the walls of the alley seemed to be covered in pitch black.

"What is this?"

"I have a proposition for you, Mr Rompson."

Suddenly, a dark and ominous voice was heard, and it made Rompson and all of his men to shudder and shiver.

Then, from a distance, two tiny lights appeared. The men did not know what they were, for they were perhaps less than the glowing ends of cigarettes, yet glowing in star-like blaze that shared similarities with the red of blood than the empty ashes of burned cigarettes. The red lights approached closer, and the feeling of dread and fear began to overtake the men, but they could not move, perhaps from the fear of unknown or from something else. It was as if they were now faced with things that they should not have.

"I am in the employ of a man whose mission requires things that you are quite suitable for, Mr Rompson."

The voice spoke once more. To the ears of men, this voice was almost melodious yet at the same time as grating as nails upon blackboards. Shrills like the screams of a thousand Sirens of legends and myths, rang more in their thoughts than their ears. Still shivering and quivering and trembling in unaccountable dread, the bodyguards turned their guns.

"Who are you?"

Rompson spoke up, mustering all his courage and strength, and it did not disappoint him.

"I am a man with a mission, Mr Rompson."

It was a middle-aged man in a nice jet-black suit, with ivory shirt and black tie that shimmered with sprinkles of gold. He looked a little like young Al Pacino with a hint of Ralph Fiennes, but with iris of glowing red. The man seemed effulgent darkly in blood red, and Rompson could not help feeling that this man-thing had a shadow that reached all the way down to the pits of hell.

"Oh, yeah? What kind of a mission?"

"A mission to break a man. I wish to enlist your help."

Rompson stared at the man, and more he looked at him, the less he felt dreadful. There was a feeling of resignation that crept up from Rompson, as if there was no other choice but to follow this man's words. Suddenly, the cross on his neck seemed to get hot, and in that moment of searing heat, Rompson barked at his men.

"Shoot this fucker!"

The man still smiled even as the bodyguards aimed their guns and fired. He seemed to melt into shadows.

Blam!

One of Rompson's bodyguards fell, his brain sundered into million pieces as the powerful bullet pierced his skull with a deadly twist.

"What the fuck!"

Blam!

Another fell, and still they could not see but the flare of the shoot and a momentary glimpse of a hand in glove that seemed to be in the colour of dried blood.

Blam!

Yet another guard fell, they now began to fear. A cold disquiet began to replace their little courages that depended on the powers of their guns and in their numbers. There was a moment of silence, and it stupefied the bodyguards even more so than the loud sounds of gunfire.

"Are you ready to talk yet, Mr Rompson?"

The man in suit appeared once more, and this time, Rompson clearly noticed the dried-blood-colour leather gloves on his hands.

"What do you want?"

His voice trembled but Rompsons intuitively knew that this man-thing was here to deal rather than to kill him. If this man wanted to kill Rompson, Rompson would be dead now.

The devil-man, as Rompson thought to himself since he was quite superstitious and such tendencies easily related this mysterious assailant to that of the devil, smiled. As the devil-man smiled, Rompson's faith was reassured at the sight of the devil-man's rows of natural-looking fangs, and trice forked tongue that slithered back and forth once.

The devil-man took out a brown document-envelop and handed it to Rompson, who quickly saw that it was a profile of a man.

"This is Mr O'Connell, a wealthy businessman whose natural tendencies for gambling addiction had come into fruition in the past ten days. He has prepaid twenty days of stay at the suite in Bellagio. He has already lost substantial amount of cash and his entire stock portfolio. Before he loses his real estates and his stake in his own company, my employer wishes to partake in this man's final moments."

"So, the man has lost a lot, and stand to lose everything. What do you want from him?"

"My employer wishes all the shares in his company. Now, the hotel has refused to extend the line of credit, and he is desperate for money... I think you can open him some credit."

Now, greed was back in Rompson.

"What what would I get in return for this... favour?"

"I shall first pay, one million dollars as down payment, and further rewards shall be forthcoming."

The devil-man's smile was chilling and brooked no further questions. Rompson gingerly nodded, and saw the devil-man slowly disappeared back into the shadows.

"FUCK!"

That was all Rompson could say.

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**Eight days later - Las Vegas**

Alex O'Connell sat on the edge of the king-size bed with his hands wrapped around his head. His eyes were closed tight, and his unshaven beard was covered in dried blood. There were five bottles of whiskey rolling on the floor of the expensive suite, and from the remaining alcohol inside, it was obvious that O'Connell had drunk the five bottles recently.

His mind was preoccupied, however. He had just lost everything. Everything he had worked so hard for was lost. The twenty years of his life devoted to his company, and now that was in the hands of loan-sharks, and his once-vast fortune had in the hands of the casinos. His wife and two daughters used to threaten him, and he had no choice but to sign over his shares. Then, somehow, his brother had called him and calmly told him that Alex was now fired as the CEO and Chairman of his own company. His mistress also called him that she had heard that he was fired, and was leaving him with the slush-fund that Alex had tucked away in accounts under her name.

Now, he had nothing. Not only he had nothing, he still had nearly a million dollars in debt to some bad people.

He saw no way out. Of course, it wasn't entirely true that he had nothing. He still had his wallet, which contained about five thousand dollars, but that was until he was just beaten up in an alley where a group of young punks lynched him and took the wallet.

O'Connell was now a broken man, with no hope.

It was not long before his once brilliant mind figured out that he would never recover.

It was not long after that he fell into despair.

Fear most foul, the fear from the depths of his own mistakes and failures, began to creep up his soul, its terrible branches clinging on to the remains of his mind, and dragging it down deep into the valleys of despair where only the insane nightmares dared to tread the pits of desperation and cliffs of misery.

The darkness deepened within his tormented thoughts, and there a sliver of pure unblemished indigo entered. It formed a face, the face of Alex O'Connell himself, but with brilliant glittering indigo for its eyes. It whispered to him in that haunting voice that refused to sedate beyond the reaches of the unconscious.

~Oh, look! Poor Alex, defeated not by the might of his enemies but by the weakness of himself.~

"Go away..."

At first, O'Connell did not answer the voice, for he recognised it as his own voice, tormenting him from the inside.

~Go away? What? Am I some servant that you can parade around when you want? I am you, and I see your darkest thoughts. I see that you know that it was YOU who failed yourself.~

"It was not me... It was the damned casino and the damned loan-shark."

~Sure... blame them, but don't blame yourself when you could have stopped after that first game of poker! You felt that exhilaration, and you knew you were so drawn into it!~

"No... NO! No... no..."

~Now, you know what happened. You've lost the five million dollars in various accounts, you've stolen another three million from your company account that your brother would soon find out about... and then you lost the house in Malibu and the apartment in LA and the apartment in New York. You've lost your yacht.~

"NO! I didn't lose them... they were taken from me..."

~Oh, you lost them through your own fingers. Your mistress is leaving you with your two million dollars. What made you think you could trust her of all people?~

A desperate moan came out from O'Connell's mouth.

~The loan-sharks are going to visit your wife soon, and that would probably be very soon after the house, the apartment and the cars are taken.~

He knew it too, and he despaired.

~Your spendthrift wife and daughters would curse your name when their credit cards are no longer in use.~

O'Connell could no longer contain himself, and the best he could do was to bite his lips, and he bled.

~They will tell your wife of your mistress, and she will divorce you, and take with her that precious 11% share she has in your company.~

He began to sob, and the quiet sobs and tears began to fill not only his room but his thought and soul.

~With your brother's 20% and his supporters, you would lose the control of the company... that is, if you actually HAD that 40% shares any more. Imagine the kind of nightmare that your loan-sharks would do to the company that you have spent twenty years to build up?~

That was the final stroke. His mind began to collapse. His sanity began to dribble into an abyss without measurable depth.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! NO! Just something! Argh!"

His tears became blood. His face began to pulsate with the endless sorrow and eternal despair. Desperation became entrenched in his soul. Then, in the well of his tribulations, a new being began to form, caressed the sorcery so secretive that would fool a man into insanity. The taunts and whispers began to shape the creature, and with a single drop of Warp tainted with fear and despair, a proto-daemon was formed.

It was no possible match for the lesser daemons of the Chaos Gods, for the Chaos Gods were the greatest four among the denizens of the Warp, and as their fragments, even the lesser daemons were powerful. This new daemon was not quite powerful or established to even form a shape of its own, and would have remained a madman's delirium had it not been tempered by the will of a powerful Chaos Sorcerer and his love of others' despair. It was indeed a prototype for the Chaos Sorcerer Lord, and he planned to make great many once he ascended into godhood.

He, the great Bringer of Despair, Lord of Terror, the Master of Doom, the Shadow of Souls, the Unspeakable Anguish, the Tribulation, had stepped forward from the vast emptiness of the shadows, cast by his own indomitable and terrible will. He looked very much like the devil-man encountered by the loan-shark Rompson. In fact, it was he. Arthur the Chaos Sorcerer Lord and set all things in motion, and now he was about to reap the first of his ripe fruit.

"I can bring you peace. I can free you from this torment. Take my hand! Give me your soul, and be freed from all this!"

Alex O'Connell looked up, his eyes full of blood and insanity.

"Take me! Take my soul! Just end this!"

The words triggered more than the mortal man would have expected had he been sane. His soul was shattered into million brilliant pieces, and drawn into the maw of the great Lord of Terror.

"Ah! There it is... your soul is NOW MINE!"

For a moment, Arthur's eyes glowed in eerie indigo light that was both dark and light, and chaotic in between. After that moment, he blew his breath to his right palm, and there, the smoky and illusionary form of a man's soul appeared, but unlike the brilliant sparkling pieces that escaped O'Connell, it was now of indigo in colour. It pulsated with power, and it moved like a living thing.

"Now, my proto-daemon... enter your new home."

Arthur placed his right hand on O'Connell's forehead. The mortal man convulsed as the proto-daemon conjured from his own soul and mind began to flood his body. After a while, the convulsion ended, and when he opened his eyes again, O'Connell's iris momentarily glowed in dark blue, almost indigo. Then he spoke, and his voice was full of strength.

"How may I serve you, lord El Sokauron?"

Arthur smiled.

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**A day later - Las Vegas**

"Here is your reward!"

"What? Fuck you! Kill the... FUCK!"

With these words spat, only the screams of men followed. Gunshots were heard but not to the ears of those walking by or nearby. Only the sound of sword slashing through bodies and screams of many men being quickly reduced in number. Then, an hour later, Mikael Rompson and three of his twenty men came out of the shadows, their eyes glittering in deep dark indigo. Another thing to notice was that Rompson's silver cross had melted on the spot and now it appeared to look almost like a lidless eye from the Lord of the Rings movie.

Back in the alley, where seventeen men were slain, the Dark Lord chuckled and revelled in the scene of bloody slaughter.

"Now that I've done what was needed, it is time to return!"

* * *

**END OF CHAPTER 8 **


	9. Chapter 9

Again, a chapter of very dark themes... then again, this is a dark story.  
Enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter 9**

**Milky Way Galaxy**

**Ultima Segmentum **

**Maelstrom Zone**

**Vera III**

Arthur finished tapping this keyboard and pressed the enter key, finalizing his programming. Then he pressed few buttons and moved the mouse and placed several new items next to the avatar of El Sokauron on the screen. Arthur was a former-psychopath now infused with memories of two Chaos Marines. He was nothing but meticulous in his designs and plans. He even checked the cartographical layout of the Maelstrom Zone, near which his own ship, the 'Icon of Despise' was now located upon an insignificant world within the Maelstrom itself.

"I need to murder more lives so that I can recharge the amulet. Already, it dwindles in power."

He mused has he gently touched the amulet that had begun to fuse to his chest. The amulet itself seemed to have shrunk to look more like a golf ball cut in half. Bits of his skin had already clung to the amulet, slowly sinking the object of power into his own body.

"Ah, I can feel it now."

The power within the amulet pulsed once more as he tapped into it with his psychic powers. He now knew that charging the amulet with power would be more difficult each time he attempted it, unless something to reinforce the amulet's containment was found.

"Spirit stones… particularly a spirit stone of a Farseer is needed… Yet, my forces are not powerful enough to challenge a Warhost of Eldar that would protect a Farseer. It appears that I will have to charge the amulet the old-fashioned way."

His low voice whispered to his own ears as if he was talking to the amulet itself. He and the amulet were fusing together, but it would still be many millions of souls before they were completely one and become the true seed of the Chaos God.

Then with a single gesture, the portal to the Warhammer 40K universe tore open against the mirror, as mirrors were the best catalyst for the amulet's power.

Arthur moaned in dark pleasures as he stepped through the portal. The amulet was now rather low on enemy reserves having created the portal and many items, but it was going to be enough to sustain him for a while. Indeed, with his recent killings in Las Vegas, Arthur could truly commune with the amulet. He now knew that more acts of murder and destruction fused his essence to the amulet itself, and with each kill he had made, he was privy to greater secrets of the ancient spell bound in the amulet.

Driven with dark purpose, Arthur looked around the chamber where dozens of items were now lying around. Through his communion with the amulet, he knows had understood more about the workings of its power and its limitations. For one thing, he could design and summon items of great power and they will be brought to reality without a problem. The items he has summoned would remain even if Arthur and the amulet were somehow destroyed. Once summoned, they became real. Not only that, each summoning cost same amount of energy from the amulet, no matter how powerful the object was. There were limitations, but such was very minor inconvenience. The limitations were certainly problematic, but given the advantages of summoning forth incredible wargears and artifacts out of thin air and the power of immortality were too good to give up.

Having come through the portal naked, Arthur called forth his psychic powers to adorn himself with the Terminator Armor he had designed, programmed and placed just before coming through. From the greater knowledge about the limitations of the amulet, he now understood and felt closely about his need for a powerful suit of Terminator Armor to protect him rather than having his faith in the amulet's power, or at least until his amulet and he became even more powerful. Indeed, with the cost of reviving himself when he has been damaged to the point of neutralization, he needed new safeguard for himself beyond a mere Artificer Power Armor to protect himself.

This Terminator Armor he wore was as elaborate as it was mighty. Named 'Mantle of Eternal Despair', it was a heavy set of powerful armor. On its back was an eight-pointed star of Chaos, but the top five arrows were enlarged while the bottom three arrows were only the half-size, which Arthur designed as the mark of him, the Lord of Terror. In the heart of that Chaos Star was the 'lidless eye', also his mark as the Witch King of Despair and Terror. His fondness of the darker creatures and symbols of the Lord of the Ring was as great as his fondness for Lovecraftian horrors that he so deeply enjoyed.

The armor's shoulder pauldrons were exaggerated like all Power Armors of this era, but this armor's decorations were of pure evil. On his right shoulder, there were five iron horns protruding from the edges of the pauldron, making the whole thing look like maw with ten fangs. In between the horns was a great lidless eye, burning in indigo flames and crimson core and black pupil. On the left shoulder was the small sculpture of an iconic beast wrought of charred iron. It was the 'Morghastur' the alternate avatar of El Sokauron, and it was a creature most foul, and it came from the twisted mind of Arthur. He knew that this new creature, an amalgam of so many horrors, was going to be his Greater Daemon when he would ascend to the godhood. As a Chaos God, he would need a suitable Greater Daemon, and the Morghasturs, the Deliverer of Terrors, would be his.

The creature was indeed fearsome, and if it had been real, then it could easily have driven many mortals insane just through its visage. Its face was like that of a lion but encased in overlapping scales with five slits that beheld glowing red eyes that burned like the Sauron's lidless eye. While its face was feline, its jaws were like that of an alligator, but filled sharp fangs that reached upward beyond the lip of the creature. Around the neck were long tentacles with terrible claws at the end, and its four arms wreathed in flames were also ended in six tentacle-fingers and two tentacle-thumbs. On its back was a pair of bone-wings, and the creature stood on a pair of digitigrades legs that ended in terrible bird-like feet with five toes.

It was not just the pauldrons that were so elaborate. On his chest was the Chaos Star of Terror, as designed by Arthur himself, and on every rung of that eight-pointed star were tiny screaming skulls with glowing indigo eyes. His greaves were like all Terminator Armor greaves, massive and powerful, and on those greaves were foul markings of devil-worship, a black pentagram that glowed in gold and twisted and turned in a black vortex, perhaps representing the void of despair. And encased in such mighty and corrupt armor, Arthur breathed easier as he put on his new helmet. Two long horns protruded from the side, reaching down to the front of the helmet, while two horns were located above the lower ones and pointed forward and twisted up like the horns of goats, and the last lone horn grew out from the forehead like that of a unicorn but in a 'S' formation.

This armor took much energy from the amulet. The armor itself was worth same amount of energy as any other, but the extra powers vested in to cost thrice as much. Then there were the weapons. Two weapons were newly made by and for Arthur just before he returned to this universe. On his left hand, a mighty Storm Bolter with brass and gold decorations of most foul symbols, and a single serrated blade crackling with disruption field. This was to be the infamous 'Fear of All', the legendary Storm Bolter that would slaughter hundreds of thousands in its master's hand. On Arthur's right hand, he now held a new sword called the 'Fang of Tribulation'. Programmed on his computer back in his original universe, the sword was based on the Wailing Doom of the Avatar of Khaine. Its blade was that of the Wailing Doom but coated in the texture of the Daemon Sword, with all its fangs and glowing eyes. Arthur increased the glow of the sword and changed the handle and hilt with that of a Space Marine Force Commander's Power Sword. With the glow of the disruption field changed to indigo and made large, the sword looked as if it was eating the light rather than emitting it.

Arthur's eyes carefully looked over every piece of his armor and weapons, and he smiled in unadulterated pleasure at the thought of his own hands slaughtering through hundreds of thousands of mortals.

"This would do."

Then he turned to his newly gained items all sprawled over the floor.

"A successful person always keeps his things organized."

With a crackle of psychic power, he twisted the walls of the Captain's chamber into large daemonic shelves, and placed his items upon them. Then, after putting on some of the artifacts and items on himself, he grabbed a skull made of bronze and charred iron with a black Chaos Star before walking out of the chamber.

Outside, he saw two Cultists how tremble in his presence.

"You!"

"Yes, lord?"

"Bring my Astartes brothers to me, and all your fellow Cultists. I shall be in the Cargo Hold Primus."

"At once, my lord."

Arthur went directly to the largest cargo hold in the ship, and he cast his psychic powers into the Warp, drawing incredible energy through the walls of the ship, and created a large unholy pentagram filled with daemonic languages that destabilized the spot.

When his minions had gathered, Arthur cracked the special skull he brought and cast it into the small vortex now formed over the pentagram. With a thunderous howls of screams and screeches, a Chaos Temple from the Dawn of War 2 slowly rose into existence. It was one of a kind, and no other had this particular Chaos Temple. Massive Warp portal resided beneath the eight metal plating pieces. From this, Arthur could summon forth all manner of Chaos forces, except for the daemons or any psyker.

In fact, he could even summon forth a Loyalist Space Marines if he used a little more of amulet's energy and did some radical programming back at his house, but even then he could not summon psykers. Entire Eldar race, Tyranids and Orks were out too. Only Imperial Guards and Space Marines were other options but Space Marine Librarian was out of the question too. Orks were actually a possibility when summoning forth, but after they were grouped in certain numbers, the amulet's control and power over them would be interfered by the growing WAAAGH!, which would most certainly let the Orks become feral.

For now, however, Arthur could only summon forth Chaos forces at tier one, and only to the population limit of 100. The problem was that Arthur had installed and used the 40K Destroyer Mod on his PC, and thus he could summon nine Chaos Marines and add an Aspiring Champion to make a full ten member squad, but that would cost 50 population. Even if he had the resources, he could only summon 2 squads, and it would take some time to summon them forth. Besides, Arthur was low on amulet energy, so he could not conjure more resources, nor could he increase the population limit. The population limit would give him 50 more population but it would cost nearly as much energy as forming a portal.

For now, he would have to be satisfied by the capability to summon two squads. He had ordered the cultists to bring forth the metal orbs that constituted the 5000 points of Requisition gained by the 'cheat', and he ordered five hundred orbs to be thrown into the Warp vortex swirling under the metal flaps as the payment. The automated summoning began with loud humming sound and vibration of the deck. However, it would still take a better part of the month to summon Arthur's new minions.

So, instead of waiting around, he commanded his ship forth.

"It shall be another twenty four days before my new minions are summoned. We shall not tarry during that time. We shall assail an Imperial world, and I shall devour the souls of the fallen."

While the Cultists roared in approval of this announcement, the Chaos Marines were still skeptical and merely eyed the strange new Chaos Temple that now resided in the heart of the ship. Ignoring their concerns, Arthur growled new orders.

"Man the consoles, we head to the Magog Cluster! To the Rook System!"

"My lord?"

One of the two surviving Chaos Marines dared to question Arthur only to back down at the Terminator Armored Chaos Lord glaring at him.

"I will brook no questions to my command. OBEY!"

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**Milky Way Galaxy**

**Ultima Segmentum **

**Maelstrom Zone**

**Magog Sector – Rook System**

The 'Icon of Despise' arrived at the Rook System in mere two days time, guided by the increased psychic might of Arthur. His powers had grown with the devoured souls of those he had killed, and the fear that his Cultists felt continued to feed him focus and power over the Warp. They soon found themselves in the hidden orbit around Rook III, a frontier world. It was a world near a Warp rift, and it was a world in turmoil. Guarded by no more than a single beleaguered regiment of Imperial Guards, this new-found colony suffered greatly during the chaos of the Badab War, whose devastation still remained across the surface of the planet. Many thousands of criminals and former mortal supporters of the Tyrant of Badab had gathered and settled here, watched by the overstretched eyes of few hundred Adeptus Arbite forces and held together only by the guns of the five thousand or so Guardsmen, whose morale and number continued dwindle as the time passed. It was here that Arthur made his first assault against the Imperium.

Rook III consisted of a single city of a million souls, and they had a small star port that harbored six Valkyries of the Imperial Guard, and a dozen Imperial Guard posts around the edges of the walled city to contain and protect the citizens. The Polisium was the heart of the city, awkwardly named Rookopolis. The Polisium was a part of the city built upon a tall hill, very much like the polis of the Ancient Greeks of the ancient Terra, whose histories have all but forgotten save for the snippets of loose information that had somehow managed to clung on to various texts. While the Rookopolis was the centre of the Rook III's politics and martial power, the real economic powers were held by the eleven large towns, whose total combined population nearly matched that of the Rookopolis.

There was a division between the capital city and the walled towns, and their political powers were decided by the number of smaller villages that supported either side. The villages, numbering nearly a thousand, represent the last one third of the population. There were outlying settlements but they were so easily destroyed by the inhospitable climate and land of the Rook III that only the villages with thin but tall walls could be counted.

While the capital city was held and ruled by the Arbites and the Imperial Guards, and the towns held by the local nobles with watered-down heritages who maintained power with their private armies, the villages were ruled by the gangs. Many gangs were small, formed from the people of the village itself, and armed with crude autoguns and melee weapons. Yet, it was the gangs that held the actual lives of people in their hands.

It was into these that the Chaos Lord El Sokauron struck. Perhaps taking doctrines of the Night Lords Chaos Marine Legion to heart, Arthur's meager forces infiltrated the slums and dark alleys of the Rook III's eleven towns. Taking on the capital city was too much and was against the plans of the Chaos Lord, but the walled towns were insulated just enough and populated densely enough for the acts of terror without discovery by the incompetent private armies of the nobles.

Arthur's Cultists were newly clothed and shrouded in the sorcery of Arthur's own creation, and they began to blend in. At night, they found local gangs in various drinking places, and raids of devastating effect had quickly silenced and murdered the gang leaderships. Against stronger gangs, Arthur and his Chaos Marines took personal charge. Three nights passed, and nine of the eleven towns had fallen into the hands of the Terrorkind, the new gang that now united them. Soon, villages and their gangs were being absorbed into the Terrorkind's influences. Murder, arson and a variety of other crimes filled the streets. Insane psychopaths, driven to lunacy by the works of the Chaos Sorcerer Lord, began to cover the streets of their gruesome arts. Within the one week of the Chaos Lord's arrival, all of the walled towns and over three hundred villages were on fire and their streets empty but for the gruesome displays of murder and mayhem.

Rumors of a cult that raped and murdered women and children began to enter the capital city, and the people became afraid. The city's walls were shut at night, and guards were posted so that evil creatures could not enter the city. Yet, the towns were asking for the deployment of Arbitrators and Guardsmen to quell the hell that now filled the streets of the towns. By day twelve of the Chaos influence, six of the eleven towns lost their nobles as the fear-driven mobs rushed their manors demanding action. Agitated by the increasing number of Chaos Cultists, the mob turned on the nobles and even their private armies turned their guns against their former employers. By day sixteen, all the towns and half of all the villages were in absolute uproar as fear and murder and dreadful perversions filled their lives. Huge mobs of thousands were gathered, and instigated by powerful orations of Chaos Cultists, they marched on toward the Rookopolis.

Even as the burly men marched in fear and anger against the Imperial oppressions and those Imperial Guards who enforced the oppressive regime, those left behind began to lose all hope. Entire villages fell into deep depression. Despair was everywhere. Even without any viable suspects, murders and mutilations continued. Bodies of women were carved with horrible symbols and twisted into various unnatural positions and were nailed to the doors of their own homes, while children screamed as their legs were chopped off and hooks plunged into their backs. The idea that nothing could relieve the evil that seeped into their homes began to settle into their minds. Despair deepened, and dozens of women killed their own children before committing suicides in utter desperation. They did not know that death would not relieve them of their fear.

Other survivors of the horror began to find their minds becoming unhinged by the constant stress and fear. Their minds began to unravel in the face of utter and terrible despair that knew no limits to its depth. Then a voice whispered to them. It was such a sweet voice to those who surrendered to despair, and such horrifying voice to those trembling in fear. It threatened and cajoled, it mocked and soothed, and it tempted them with a relief from the fear and contentment in despair. Its ways were simple. They only needed to trust in their new god, the God El Sokauron. In him, they would know peace, and they would no longer fear or despair. So they believed and offered their souls to find a moment of relief. They became fanatic Cultists, and like the Christians and Muslims of old Terra, they began to lose all reason.

Their new god indeed granted what he had promised. They no longer needed to fear, because they had become the thing of fear. They moved in silent mobs of a few dozen, carrying a small bundles of electric wires bound together to make a flail of exposed wires. The wires were connected to a small electrical machine that inflicted electric shock to those struck by it. Any who didn't follow their new god were found, whipped. If they converted, they would be left in peace, but if they did not convert, they were dragged to village square and were flayed alive and fed to dogs. At night, as to the whispered words of their new god, they hunted women and children. Once caught, their prey was ravaged with all manner of dark imagination. They reveled in their own cruelty, not remembering that it was this that they had feared most.

On the day twenty-three, the Colonel who commanded the Imperial Guards surrendered as the mob overwhelmed the Guards and the wall. The mob quickly slaughtered or converted the population of the city, and many Guardsmen were already joining the mob. Fear and despair had already set into the hearts of the Colonel.

* * *

**END OF CHAPTER 9**


	10. Chapter 10

Well, another chapter is here. Enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter 10**

**Milky Way Galaxy**

**Ultima Segmentum**

**Maelstrom Zone**

**Magog Cluster – Rook System**

**23 Days since El Sokauron's Invasion**

Arthur's heavy footsteps was heard as clearly as a ringing bell. The dense metal plating of his Terminator Armor cracked the concrete steps that made up the long and wide steps reaching to the plateau of the Polisium. Beside him were the two Chaos Marines, whose names now erased by the will of their Chaos Lord until such time as they could once again be called by their name.

Even these Chaos Space Marines were an impressive sight, their massive hulking bulk overshadowing the trembling and quivering bodies that lined up with their lasguns on the floor. Not only could El Sokauron could feel and taste their wholesome fear that manifested in so many fathomable and unfathomable ways, even the Chaos Space Marines that escorted him could see it.

In the last twenty three days, the two Chaos Marines had given up their doubts of their new leader. They saw the dark charisma that had driven a whole planet insane with terror and horror. They saw the infernal machinations of their Chaos Lord and how it ground the fearful into terrified mobs that followed his every whim. There was no doubt now, and they had long cast the old identity out. They were no longer 'Sons of Horror', though their new master liked the name enough to promise a whole warband of that name to whoever survived the long journey to the Chaos Lord's ascension.

Now, with fear and despair filling the streets, the Chaos Lord had driven the local Imperial Guard garrison to surrender without firing a single shot. It was not even that the forces the Chaos Lord had overwhelmed the Imperial Guards. The Chaos Lord had mere two Chaos Marines, and yet, the five thousand Imperial Guards were all laid down before him, and reduced in strength within a single day. In the eyes of the Guardsmen, there was fear so deep that each step turned the fear into despair. They now knew that there was no way out. Even if they had somehow repulsed the Chaos, it would still remain that they had surrendered to the forces of Chaos, and the Inquisition would most certainly torture them to their unseemly deaths for it.

The Chaos Lord finally reached the plateau, his feet touching the steel-reinforced ferrocrete that protected the level. He saw the scores of mighty structures that bore the symbols and designs of the Imperium. Chuckling darkly, the Chaos Lord looked at the Colonel of the Imperial Guard Regiment knelt before him. The man was bound and guarded by two heavy-set Cultists, who were obviously the new ones recruited from his world.

"Release him. I shall speak with him."

The Cultists let the man go, but he was still bound and still on his knees. For a Colonel of the Imperial Guards, this man was filled with too much fear. The Chaos Lord knew this, and he wanted to use the man's fears against himself.

Arthur bent down, his horned helmet coming dangerously close to the Colonel.

"You are a failure, Colonel. You think to surrender to me? What gives you the right? You are not in command. You were never suited to command such men. Look at you, worm. You are worthless. You are weak. You are a failure. You could not even stop three Chaos Marines with five thousand men you commanded. You had six Earthshaker cannons here on the Polisium, and you had a dozen Valkyries. Yet, you did not give the order to bomb the villages and towns. What were you afraid of? Where you afraid of how these people would think of you? How pathetic. Your life was depended on it. The lives of your men were depended on it. Yet, your fear of being found out as a failure has made you a real failure. You are truly worthless in aspects of life. You've not only failed as a commander of men, you have failed your corpse-emperor. You were never worthy enough to even control your own life, let alone five thousand men! Look at you! Now bowed down before me, and without a single shot fired. What kind of a man are you? You could not even pull your trigger! You didn't even have the balls to end your own life! Pathetic! Worthless! Worm!"

Had these words were merely heard, then the Colonel may have ignored it, but the words in his head. The taunts continued to assail the man's sanity in subtle whispers. The Colonel's self-esteem was now gone, and along with it, so were his pride and all and everything he has achieved. He now remembered how his mother looked at him with displeasure and disappointment when his lasgun shooting score was a mere 85% while his younger brother got 95%. That 10% hurt so much. He remembered how he was a failure and only the power of his family put him in the officer's seat. He remembered every mistake and every failure he had ever made. He forgot every glory and every victory. As the seconds went by, the man was hollowed out, his sanity reaching a precipice. There was no more reason, there was no more hope. There was only despair.

The Chaos Lord smiled as he nailed down the last words.

"You are a failure."

Among many things that men feared, being a failure was quite high up on the list. Death was a common fear, but the prospect of failure was also great. Now beset by all his failures to this day and moment, the man despaired. He was now convinced that there was nothing for him. He was nothing, and he felt nothing but despair and the fear of the one who brought him his despair. The Colonel knew that this mighty Chaos Lord could inflict upon him greater pains, both physically and psychologically, and he greatly feared it. All he wanted to do now to was retreat into his own mind, and bury himself in despair. There was nothing more that could be done. Everything was so hollow...

Then someone whispered to him...

~_So much despair... there is a way... there is way to be... not a failure... you must give in... to despair... It is the only thing... left for you... or maybe... you would even fail... in Chaos..._~

"I will do anything... please..."

The Chaos Lord nodded.

"Then I shall grant you a chance to prove yourself. Give in to the despair. There is nothing. You have no purpose of your own. There is nothing... but the obedience to my command... Surely, you cannot possibly fail that?"

The Colonel's soul twisted and turned as the despair set in. The whispers of the Chaos Lord's words held his soul like tentacles and would not let go. They hurt, but the soul was already beyond the point of saving.

"What is that you wish of me... my lord?"

The eyes of Lord El Sokauron gleamed in indigo that seemed to devour the light around them. The sun was setting, and the crimson sky seemed so right for the moment.

"You shall serve me!"

* * *

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* * *

**Milky Way Galaxy**

**Ultima Segmentum**

**Maelstrom Zone**

**Magog Cluster – Rook System**

**6 months since El Sokauron's Invasion**

The transition was smooth. Across the villages and towns, the mobs and Cults of Despair had taken power. The societies were quickly reorganized into religion, military and civilians. The first to be organized was the Cult of Despair. The Cult of Despair had founded itself across the planet, worshiping the new Chaos God-to-be. They had despaired, and in their despair, they found only El Sokauron, or the Diablo, the Chaos God of Terror and Despair. They believed that only he could deliver them from that despair by ending their lives and consuming their souls. They gladly sacrificed their own children and their own neighbors to the desecrated Chaos altar that bore the Chaos Star of Terror.

The Cult of Despair formed patrol groups to work as religious police called the Tribulators. They always moved in five, the sacred number of the Lord El Sokauron, the Living God of Terror and Horror. They wore gruesome masks of human skin stretched over a skull carved with the Chaos Star of Terror. On their bodies, they had numerous piercings with chains hanging from them that ended in tiny hooks that reached the edges of the human-skin masks. These five would carry the Wire, the electro-flail made up of five thick electric wire that contained five smaller wires made of thick copper with the ends ground into sharp hooks. The flails reached five meters from the handle, and the electric shock would last five seconds.

* * *

**18 months since El Sokauron's Invasion**

The second organization to be formed was the military. The military was the Cult of Terror. They were the Terrorkin, a pale shadow of the Terrorkind, the Warband of Lord El Sokauron himself. While many of the strongest Guardsmen were drafted into the Cultist ranks among the Terrorkind, the Terrorkins were made up of the rest of the Guardsmen and many of the former gang-members. Wearing the yellow liveries of the Terrorkin, for yellow was the color of fear, the Terrorkins entered camps formed by the Terrorkind to turn them into proper soldiers of Chaos. El Sokauron, or Arthur, did not wish to be the head of rag tag madmen with little to no combat power.

One Guardman would be given the rank of Corporal and armed with a laspistol and a sturdier version of the Wire. He would be flanked by two former-gang members with lasguns. The last two members were also former-gang but given a laspistol and a long combat knife. This would consist a single Terror Team, and five such Terror Teams formed a Terror Squad, a twenty-five man group led by a Sergeant who is basically a Corporal with slightly better armor and a Chainsword. Of course, a Sergeant would take the role of a Corporal in his own Terror Team. The Terror Squads would again form Terror Company by having five squads united under a Lieutenant. A Lieutenant would be armed with a good Carapace Armor, a Bolt Pistol and a Chainsword, and his Terror Team would be his bodyguards and they would armed to the level of Sergeants.

Until this point, the organization bears certain resemblance to that of the Imperial Guard. However, five Terror Companies join to form a Terror Brigade, made up of 625 men and led by a Major. A Major would be given an excellent Carapace Armor, a Bolt Pistol, a Power Sword and a backup laspistol and his entire Terror Team would be made up of bodyguards with armaments at Lieutenant's level. From here, the five and its multiplication ends. Eight Terror Brigades are united to form a Terror Regiment, and led by the Colonel, whose real name had now been forgotten. Colonel's own Terror Squad was made up entirely of Sergeant-level soldiers and his Terror Team would be his close-bodyguards with Major-level soldiers. Colonel himself was given a Power Armor.

The problem was that the Colonel was no Space Marine. So, the mighty Chaos Sorcerer Lord El Sokauron cast a sorcery at him. Arthur carefully mutated the Colonel. It was all thanks to the amulet that Arthur could manipulate the effects of the Warp at such meticulous and detailed level, but it was at a cost of the Amulet's energy. Fortunately, Arthur had killed and terrorized enough people on the planet to cast such spell. The Colonel's body grew large enough to fit in a Power Armor, albeit there was still much to be desired. His strength grew and his experiences preserved, but his sanity, humanity and the likeness to a human had ended. He was now more of a hybrid of a reptile and a large rat. Tiny scales grew all over his body and his fingers were clawed like that of a rat. His eyes became reptilian while his jaws and teeth became rat-like. The tail was quickly cut off and the spot cauterized. He was nearly thrice as strong as a normal human but still not even close to that of an Astartes, yet it would be enough to don a Power Armor.

The Colonel was also given a Chainsword with tiny tentacles growing around the handle, and a Bolter with eight tiny horns growing around it. Such was the power of Arthur, and he continued to augment his follower. The Power Armor now featured scores of tentacles around the rear half of the neck section, which attached themselves to the Colonel's head to work as a neural interface to the Power Armor, though it would be much less than a Black Carapace of an Astartes. As for the painting, Arthur took his time to color his Terrorkind's armors as well. As the leader of the Terrorkin, the Colonel was painted in sickly yellow with black cuirass with the great burning lidless eye as the symbol. The Terrorkind was given all indigo/black treatment with sickly yellow drawn in tentacle-like pattern, and the lidless eye on the right shoulder pauldron.

* * *

**24 months since El Sokauron's Invasion**

While the religious and military groups were easy to organize, the civilian section was quickly turned into an oppressive police-state with extreme crime rate and only safety was in the protected zones guarded by either the Terrorkin or the Cult of Despair. State-built nursery-schools were soon organized and all children born were taken from their parents to be brainwashed and trained. Upper level schools were also formed but they were all boarding schools. Arthur wanted to brainwash the children from the young age. It wasn't long before the younger children became terribly twisted fanatic worshipers of the Diablo, yet another identity of Arthur. While the parents of these children lived in constant terror and hunger, their children were fed well and given military trainings. These little children quickly became deadly weapons in mere two years, and when they had returned to the civilian society after they were 16, they joined either the Cult of Despair or the Terrorkin.

Arthur had also prepared other things. He now had twenty two Chaos Marines thanks to the Chaos Temple aboard the 'Icon of Despise'. The two normal Chaos Marines with independent thoughts and will were given the position of Terrorhosts, the commanders under Arthur. The Chaos Marines that were summoned from the Chaos Temple were more of automatons. They were physically there, and they had all the experiences, savagery and personality of a real Chaos Marine, but outside combat, they just stood there. They moved only through the command of Arthur, and they could not shoot or hurt Arthur and visa versa. No matter how powerful he got, these Chaos Marines were still illusions forced into reality by the power of the amulet. Yet, having two full squads of Chaos Marines was quite a powerful thing. Not only did they come with a Techmarine each, they also came with an assortment of weapons that materialized into reality that would allow Arthur to pick up the armor and weapon should these Chaos Marines were to die.

To celebrate the anniversary of his invasion, Arthur had commanded the Cult of Despair and the Terrorkin to cull the population one month before the anniversary. He wanted exactly 55,555 prisoners who were ever opposed to Arthur's rule or kept hope of better days. Hope was a grievous sin on Rook III now along with bravery. Such things were not encourage. Bravery were replaced with desperation and fear, and hope was extinct so that despair and hopelessness would rule supreme.

In preparation for the anniversary, Arthur had the newly gained Techmarines to bombard a remote unsettled region of the planet that was close enough to the settled areas so that transportation would be easy. It was a precision bombardment that created five smaller crater inside a larger crater. Upon simulations, the larger crater was enough to contain 55,555 prisoners with enough space left over. Once the craters were formed, the five smaller craters were installed with high towers of both symbolic and real power of Chaos. A dark and evil pentagram was formed with thick golden wires that were hung with still-screaming skulls of people, bound there by Arthur's own sorcery.

* * *

**2****nd**** Anniversary of El Sokauron's Invasion**

"My lord, the slaves are ready."

Terrorhost Primus, the victor of a duel between the two sentient Chaos Marines in Arthur's warrior, informed him. Primus had another name before, but Arthur had the predilection of hiding real names with multiple names, each of equal or greater symbolism and power. Primus was now wearing a nice Artificer Power Armor that would be the envy of many Chaos Lords of other Warbands. Armed with powerful Power Axe and a Plasma Pistol, Primus would easily kill several Loyalist Astartes had he been given a chance. Arthur smiled at the image of slaughtering many Loyalists.

"Bring me my weapons."

"Yes, lord."

Two Techmarines brought the Heavy-Flamer and the Assault Cannon. They were both originally conjured by Arthur's previous trip to his real world, which was well over two years previous. They carefully equipped the two heavy weapons upon Arthur's Terminator Armor. They had designed and created special harnesses so that Arthur could quickly drop them once they ran out of ammunition. Arthur fixed the 'Fang of Tribulation' on his left waist while locking the 'Fear of All' on the right so that he could use them when he ran out of ammunition. On his left hand, the Heavy-Flamer was installed, with the specially made feeding tube reaching behind the armor to a bulky fuel-tank. On his right hand he was given the Assault Cannon, also with its belt-feed reached to the ammo-pack installed on his back.

"At last! A decent sacrifice to ME!"

Arthur stepped forward into the arena created within the crater. The craters were covered in thick layer of concrete and even so the descent into the crater was deep. The lowest point of the primary crater was nearly three meters below the nearby land even after the concrete coating of the inside. On the edge of the crater, he saw 55,555 slaves and prisoners huddled together in hundreds of sporadic groups and taking up position around the crater, but still within the large pentagram.

Satisfied that the 55,555 slaves didn't completely fill the arena to the brim but still without enough room to flee far, Arthur cast his mind into the Warp and drew its powers. The eight sets of forty five spikes installed around the crater glowed with the power of the Warp and formed a mighty barrier that reached a hundred meters into the air, and quite impenetrable until Arthur ended the spell. He was going to personally slaughter 55,555 slaves.

"I don't really have to kill them with hands. Empyrean Abyss!"

The mighty spell from the Dawn of War 2 was cast. Costing 500 global energy, it was a powerful spell enough to crush a head of a Daemon Prince, if one had followed the Chaos Ending of the Retribution.

The ground shook as the concrete that covered the ground began to shatter under the sheer entropy of the raw Warp spilling through a crack in the reality. Eight points formed and from there, a terrible rift in the reality exploded upward, swallowing thousands of people.

Into that madness, Arthur waded in with his weapons ablaze and atrocious mirth on his face.

* * *

**END OF CHAPTER 10**


	11. Chapter 11

Well, as you may have noticed, this story is a literary experiment in having an evil protagonist and my practices of Lovecraftian horror.

This Chapter 12 is a particular experiment in the Lovecraftian horror writing. I hope you enjoy it!

Oh, and Arthur might get himself a nice new ship! Heh!

* * *

**Chapter 11**

**Milky Way Galaxy**

**Ultima Segmentum**

**Maelstrom Zone**

**Magog Cluster – Rook System**

**2****nd**** Anniversary of El Sokauron's Invasion**

Screams.

Screams were everywhere. Screams of pain and screams of fear from 55,555 people could have shattered glass and bone had they been long enough and loud enough.

They were cut short and overwhelmed by even greater noise.

The rift of Warp was far greater than mere 55,555 people could possible contend. Thousands were instantly obliterated as their bodies were torn to pieces by the entropy of the Warp, and thousands were horribly mutated to their deaths as their bodies could no longer contain the incredible energy poured into them.

Tens of thousands screams as the Warp-taint wind swarmed over them like tiny blades of poison. Everywhere the blades of wind had touched became different. A light cut on the festered into green pus-covered cancer that turned the hand into a large flesh club with protruding bones. A nick from that Warp wind suddenly turned a woman's hair into blue fire and she screamed as the unquenchable flames burned her mind. The wind turned a man into a hideous mix between a man and a Bloodletter, only to find itself right next to a little girl that suddenly had thirty six arms of claws and pale purple skin of a Daemonette. The two fought and killed each other.

Others who were not swallowed up or killed had fled, but found themselves unable to pierce the powerful barrier that Arthur had set up. Arthur ignored those who fled for the moment. They could not escape, and it was a matter of time. The real challenge was those affected by the Warp. Most would die, but some would turn into Chaos Spawns, and though they would be weak compared to a Chaos Marine turned Spawn, but they would at least put up some fight.

Even as the people were turned inside out and upside down, Arthur was merely pleased. He had properly settled into the rightful mindset of a Chaos Lord. He walked into that hell with his Heavy-Flamer and Assault Cannon on full.

Assault Cannon whirled into life and then began to rend the flesh of all those inside the arc of the fire, while the Heavy-Flamer scorched everything. Screams got louder now, and a child-turned-Chaos Spawn that dared to lunge at Arthur was instantly set on fire and pushed back by the force of Arthur's willpower manifesting as a psychic barrier around him.

The Empyrean Abyss began to subside and the survivors moaned, if only for a second. Where nearly five thousand people had just died, several hundred hulking forms rose among the bloody field of body pieces. Then they were pierced by the endless stream of bullets from the Assault Cannon. With each kill, with each murder, Arthur's psychic power became stronger still. Now, his own mind was dominating the Warp around him, and instead of the multitude of colors and currents, there was only his will. Only the dark indigo of fear and vortex-like swirl of despair were seen in the Warp around Arthur.

Chaos Spawns instinctively fled from this might. Arthur chased them down, only partially aware of the dark indigo flames that sprang up from his footsteps. One by one, Chaos Spawns were hunted down and ended, and with each kill, the dark flames only got stronger. They fed on the fear and despair and horror and all the terrible emotions and the flames burned through blood, flesh and the Warp. The fear began to to taint the Warp, and then swept up by the unfathomable currents of the Warp, they merely added a shade in the color of the Warp.

Once he was done with the Chaos Spawns, he now looked at hundreds of groups that huddled around strong young men. They stood as if they would protect the women and children, but as Arthur took further steps toward them, their courage failed and fear took them. They thought to flee, but they could not.

"Chains of Tormet!"

Another sorcery was cast, and a statue of Morghastur, the beast-form of Arthur's psyche, came up from the Warp and from it shot out hundreds of thousands of chains no thicker than a man's fingers. But these chains were full of thorns and made from the dark flames of fear. Unlike the Chains of Torment cast by pure Tzeentchian sorcerers, Arthur's sorcery was already affected by his identity as a new demi-god. With more sacrifices, he was getting closer and closer to becoming a Warp God, and though it was still long time away, the actions and sacrifices of past two years had strengthened that part of him.

The chains pierced the flesh and bone, and they wrapped around a group of people. Arthur turned to another group, abandoning the group he was just chasing after. Then the chains squeezed. Like jellies, their bodies were torn into hundreds of pieces.

"Doombolt!"

A torrent of Doombolts, exactly five groups of five, exploded out from a point in front of Arthur. They exploded all over, and another group of slaves were ended. Even as the number of slaves began to dwindle, the fuel of the Heavy-Flamer was spent. The Chaos Lord discarded his weapon to the ground and unlocked his 'Fear of All' from his belt. The Storm Bolter growled as if it was sentient and was glad to be killing things. The Storm Bolter and the Assault Cannon continued to kill the humans until the Assault Cannon was discarded also. Then Arthur took out the 'Fang of Tribulation'.

The Fang of Tribulation did not glow as such. Instead it emitted a sort of radiance, but instead of pink, purple, blue or such noticeable light, it emitted indigo so dark it might as well be black. In fact, it looked as if it was devouring the light around the blade. Yet, the sword had no problem killing anything. Even as it moved, its dark flames scored those around the intended victim.

The sun began to set, and the number of slaves dwindled to less than two thousand. Arthur had cast so many spells, as if practicing them against live targets, and he had practiced every swordplay remembered by Kha'lath and Varhir. His Storm Bolter was originally spraying their ammunition, but by the time dusk began to set, Arthur was a fantastic marksman with it.

"How many remains?"

He spoke into the vox, and the Terrorhost Primus answered quickly after looked at a counter held in the hands of a Chaos Techmarine.

-One thousand eight hundred sixty six, my lord. Shall I order your men to round up these creatures?-

"No. I must personally slaughter them. I will just adjust the field."

With that word, the barrier surrounding the crater began to shrink, and people were driven to a smaller area about half way into the crater, just within the limits of the giant pentagram of golden wire that hung above them. They screamed, of course, but they were mostly smothered by the sheer amount of gore that was swept up by the shrinking field.

Arthur was in the center of the pentagram, his eyes watching as the outer sections of the crater was made clean by his barrier. All the gore had to be contained within the pentagram for his ritual sacrifice to succeed. Now, the remaining slaves were within his grasp and all corralled in an area about six times the size of football fields.

"Time to end this, my slaves."

Suddenly, the golden wires of the pentagram flared to life and emitted intense shriek and indigo flames. The energies of the Warp cracked around the five towers of charred iron and those trapped within the pentagram could no longer scream as their voices were silenced by a sense of dreadful terror and horror at the same time. Then they began to scream once more as their eyes witnessed truly abyssal horror. More than one slave blinded themselves by tearing out their own eyeballs, while others bit their tongue, hoping to escape the horror by death. Some with less er minds went insane at the sight, and some with stronger minds closed their eyes and whispered prayers to the God Emperor of Mankind, the only sane thing that they could rely on.

* * *

To give true account of what had happened Arthur would drive man mad, but then again, it is fortunate that the languages of man are such that even with the most zealous efforts of master poets could not truly describe the reality of such horror.

The Terminator Armor began to fuse with Arthur's flesh. The gloves began to melt into his growing hands, and bones protruded from the armor without cracking the shells. The Storm Bolter 'Fear of All' disappeared in a whiff of Warp along with the 'Fang of Tribulation'. Indeed, their master needed not such crude and human weapon. Their master, the formerly human Arthur Martin, newly remade as the Lord El Sokauron the Moghastur, the incarnate of Diablo, the new Chaos God of Terror, Despair and Horror, was evolving into something far greater and far fouler than anything in existence.

The size of the man-creature began to grow, and all laws of physics dissipated as the Terminator Armor was absorbed into the creature, leaving only the lightest of vestiges. The fingers were long and with five joints not including the joints linking the fingers to the hand that now looked like a giant flat oval disk of living flame. The fingers themselves were like metallic skin stretched tightly over the bones, and each of the five knuckled had a sharp horn coming out from it. The tips of the fingers had claw like the beaks of eagles. While the palm was flat and was like a mirror wreathed in fire, the back of the hand had grown short stubby tentacles whose ends were made of fang-filled mouths that opened up five ways.

The arms was lengthened, and was lithe. No longer was the heavy muscles of a Chaos Marine, but in their stead, hundreds of thick indigo tentacles of muscle-like texture that writhed within the clear membrane that seemed to have glimmers of crystal. The arms were also with five joints, including the wrist and elbow and the shoulder, and each join could fold in every direction, giving a sense of tentacles in the arms. Yet, these were only primary arms. Much like the Moghastur creature dreamed up by Arthur's deranged mind, it had an extra set of arms, located a little way below its primary set of arms. It was more human like, except for the fact that the arm ended in a stub with five sharp talons. There were no fingers but five sharp talons with a gaping maw that lashed out with horrible tongue that split five ways.

Its torso also held much horror in its formation. It had two slabs of massive rib that seemed to be made of a single bone with four oval gaps filled with flesh covered in living scales that writhed with each breathe that the creature took. Below the ribs were the human-like rib-bones but opened outward, and inside was a giant organ to had five eyes of toads, three noses of lion, two mouths located above and below its eyes and noses. The organ was surrounded twenty-five massive tentacles that ended with five talons that dripped in yellow acid.

Below the open belly and the organ-creature was the hips of the creature, but it had no legs. Its strange triple-spines met against a flat disk-like hipbone from which protruded five thick and enormous tentacles like that of an octopus, but what octopus had boney horns growing out of its every sucker and its skin covered in thick black carapace that oozed bright green slime? At the ends of these five gigantic tentacles were split into five smaller tentacles, each sheathed in charred wrought iron that formed wicked hooks.

On the creature's back were two pairs of wings, both boney like that of Morghastur, but instead being made of bones, they looked like legs of giant spiders, with all the hairy formation. However, the hundreds of hairs on the wing-bones had a burning lidless eye, as small as a human eyeball, and crackling with psychic power that formed a net of lightning that covered the area between the wing-bones, forming wings of indigo lightning.

Despite all its horrible and mind-shattering form, its head and its face was relatively 'normal'. It had a long neck, made up of five separate necks of dragons that merged at the head. The head itself was like a giant balling ball in shape covered in thousands of hair that looked suspiciously like the human spines ripped from its body, but still writhing thanks to bits of red muscle wrapped around the white bones. On the of its head were something akin to a tree in its form but of dark red color and its branches were ended with claws like those of crabs and scorpions. Around the base of this tree-thing were five massive horns that stood like a crown. On its face, the creature had the five eyes like that of Morghasture, each with lidless eye inside that burned in crimson and indigo. Its nose was like that of a tiger, with whiskers that seemed to be made of a chain of skulls fused together on their sides with the jaws continually crackling their screams. The mouth was split in five sections, each filled with fangs and clear, jelly-like tentacles just behind the rows of fangs.

* * *

It took a full minute for Arthur to transform into the hideous, foul, unnatural and horrible creature, and for a full minute, it stayed in that form, and in that minute every one of the surviving slaves in that arena died. They either killed themselves or went insane and ran headlong into the iron pillars. The others were not so fortunate. A dark indigo fire burned from within their minds, and it was so intense that they despaired, and their despair and fear fed the flames until it manifested in reality and melted their eyeballs inside the sockets and teeth crumbled into ashes and from every orifice on their head, flames gushed out.

They screamed, tongueless, and they spoke words so un-human that those standing around the edges of the crater could only here whispers of their insane mumblings.

'Ah-mrao-got-hour!'

'Ahmr-aog-oth-o-ur!'

'Ahm-rao-gotho-ur!"

Some seemed to say 'o-goth' while others spoke 'Ahm-ra', 'ra-o' or 'thgo-ur'. Each syllable was so filled with dread that even the Chaos Marines and Cultists shuddered away from it. It was fortunate that the Chaos Marines and Cultists were quite used to the horrors of the Warp, had they not been so, they could also have been driven insane at the creature. Yet, this was the universe of grimdark, the Warhammer 40K universe, where horrors were common, though not at this level.

Then as suddenly had he turned transformed, the giant form that easily reached ten meters in height had vanished. Only Arthur remained in the spot, and around him a veritable storm of indigo colored smoke that behaved like living things. They were consumed through Arthur's mouth, and his eyes glowed in dark pale shadows.

Now all were dead. All 55,555 slaves had been sacrificed to none but Arthur and his dark purpose. Now, he was filled with souls of so many. His power sundered the heavens and hell below.

When Arthur, as Lord El Sokauron, had returned to the edge of the crater, the Terrorhost Primus and Secondus knelt on the ground and bowed with all their hearts, followed in fashion by the Cultists.

"What is this?"

"You have achieved daemonhood, lord. It is a great feat!"

Arthur growled in displeasure, and the Chaos Marines shrank back.

"That was not a daemonhood. I will need to kill millions more for such feat, but even so, it would not be my ultimate goal. What you saw was nothing but a moment of vanity that blinded my reason. When I am truly the God of Darkest Terror, the God of Utter Despair and the God of Horrors Unending, then I shall take that form so that my creatures, the Morghastur, are but a shadow of my true greatness."

Even so, the Chaos Marines were greatly impressed.

"Yes, my lord El Sokauron."

"Come! We still have much to do."

* * *

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* * *

**Milky Way Galaxy**

**Ultima Segmentum**

**Maelstrom Zone**

**Magog Cluster – Rook System**

**54 months since El Sokauron's Invasion**

"We are here, captain."

"At last! I was about to vent the atmosphere to get rid of that smell."

The Rogue Trader Captain Ludris von Ishbael growled as he scratched the eye patch that hid the gruesome scar over his left eye. His second-in-command, former Imperial Guard Captain and a surly man with impeccable work-ethic, was Vilas Collonel. He was no longer a captain, for he was demoted and then as he spent his time drinking, Ludris picked him up. Since then, they have spent three decades together aboard the Lunar-class Cruiser 'Prayers of Far Away', the flagship of Ishbael Rogue Trader fleet, whereupon Ludris was conceived, born and raised by his father the honorable Admiral Oskal von Ishbael.

The Ishbael dynasty used to be immensely wealthy but lost two fleets to Warp Storms was just bad luck, and they turned to jobs that would pay rather than exploring. Of course, they still explored the outer reaches of the Imperium and looted odd world here and there, but two entire fleets were losses that could not so easily be restored by mere three planets in five decades. Had these discovered worlds been rich with loot, the dynasty may have recovered, but they were not, and even now, the Ishbael clans struggles to maintain their dominion over their homeworld as their mighty ships sail once more into the darkness of the galaxy.

"If you had vented the atmosphere, and our cargo died, then you would not be paid."

Cold and reasonable were the words of Vilas, and Ludris sighed.

"Fine! Prepare to unload these... colonists to the Rook Tertius. Let's get them on the planet's surface and find ourselves a new job. A job that is not ferrying three hundred thousand colonists crammed into every nook and cranny of my ship.

"Yes, Captain."

* * *

**END OF CHAPTER 11**


	12. Chapter 12

A new chapter is up!  
Enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter 12**

**Milky Way Galaxy**

**Ultima Segmentum**

**Maelstrom Zone**

**Magog Cluster – Rook System**

**55 months since El Sokauron's Invasion **

The ship's lights began to fail and they flickered on and off. The corridors were dark, and the living quarters that lined up the corridors were generally in solid square blocks, and now and then a cupola-shaped door frames of wrought-iron indicated that it was the place of a Armsmen's officers, such as Sergeants and Lieutenants. There used to be quite a disquiet along this corridor, with scores of half-naked Armsmen going back and forth from their dormitories to the other, often seeking the pleasure selling females that Ludris had purchased in previous port or somewhere. Such women were slaves, and Ludris had given them as rewards to his men when the sailing through the stars was better.

Now, the cold crisp air of the darkened corridors was filled with stenches of blood, feces and depression of those who survived. In this passage filled with a messed web of gory putrescence, Ludris could not help but feel a moment of relief. It was strange that a month ago, he was an arrogant Rogue Trader whose vices and virtues mattered little save for the vast profits he had once hoped to make. Yet, now, a month later since they've arrived on this blasted and blasphemous rock, everything was filled with desolation most foul.

The beginning was not so noticeable. He had allowed shore leave for one tenth of his crew, to be cycled each day, and in ten days he would have everyone satisfied with stepping on a planet. He did not know, and could not know, that the planet was nothing like what he had expected. It was a little too well-organized for a Frontier World, where the gangs and violence usually ruled the world in anarchic despotism. The local governor, the Colonel of the Imperial Guards, somehow maintained a strong presence across the planet.

The troubles began soon. Crewmen and Armsmen were going missing, and by the time Villas had noticed it, the number of missing was rather great. Then by the time the report came upon Ludris himself, nearly three hundred men and women were missing. Fear was in the air. Some said it was an effect from the nearby Warp anomaly, though the Astropath flatly denied it. Some others said that daemons were aboard the ship and they had kidnapped and killed those who were missing so that they could remain in reality. Most of the theories were rubbish, but the problem persisted. Unable to quell the anxiety among his crew, Ludris prepared teams of elite soldiers to make constant patrols and minimized the interactions between different decks.

Yet, the missing people did not turn up, nor did the kidnapping stop. Then, on the seventh day, the bodies turned up. Some were skinned and molten lead poured upon the muscle to form a skin of lead, and these horrific displays were put where everyone could see it. Then worse things began to turn up. A young soldier who has been missing for three days had turned up with all of his bones ripped out from him, but every other organ, including the brain had remained within the body, and there were no cuts or evidence of surgery. It was as if the bones were just missing. The air began to stink, and they found the intestines of the three missing people bound to the primary air cycler aboard the ship.

The infirmary was ransacked by a small mob of unidentified men. Though clearly some people aboard the ship, they could not be identified. Soon, the fear began to overwhelm the crew. They now faced unseen enemies who hunted them one by one. The powers of the ship failed as a mob of strange men assailed it and left the Techpriest in pieces, hacked to a hundred pieces with hands. Ludris sent Vilas to solve it, only to have Vilas return with severe wounds. Deck by deck, the lights went out and the dim red lights of the emergency power came on. As the darkness deepened aboard the massive ship, the decks and the people aboard adopted a spectral silence.

The quiet had made Ludris uncomfortable, and then there were rumors.

Some reported that they saw glimpse of Astartes in black and yellow appearing like specters only to disappear when they blinked. Dark embolisms happened between moments of inattention, and like evil lurking around the ship only noticed through a glance from the corners of one's eyes, there was no solid form that constituted the evil no matter how much Ludris attempted to drive out the rumors. Corridors that used to fill up with hordes of drunken sailors shouting and singing became silent apparitions that had long disappeared, and only occasional furtive hands locked the doors tighter as the lights dimmed. They were afraid of what lurked and the shadows and the shadows only deepened. They locked down their living quarters, unwilling to step out for anything but the most basic sustenance. While some swarthy, heavily-lined faces of Armsmen on patrol came along once a while, but they quickly disappeared from decks when the inky blackness in the depths of the ship swallowed them whole and spit out only the most horrendous mutilations.

"Captain?"

"Do you see anything?"

At the hesitant prompt by one of his bodyguards, Ludris quickly shook his head and drove the strange thoughts out of his head. For weeks, he had been hearing quiet murmurs in his head, like rustling of wind that formed weird and disconsolate meanings. His focus was not quite there, but he managed.

"No, captain. Half the lights are out and the men we've sent to scout ahead disappeared without a single word."

The former Imperial Guard Stormtrooper had answered grimly, and Ludris almost swore. This was a man that Vilas brought with him a decade ago, and Ludris had enjoyed this bulky man's presence. While Vilas was a soldier and an officer, this man, called Awallis, was always and only a soldier. There was no innuendo in his words. Just truth of what he knew. There was no room for doubt.

"Now what? If this section falls, we are going to lose nearly three hundred Armsmen and their families."

"We could call them out."

Ludris doubted it.

"Half the lights are out, you say, and that makes me think no one will come out. They are afraid of the dark."

Ludris was not afraid of the dark. Dark was not what he was afraid of. He was a Rogue Trader, and a Rogue Trader lives in the space where the darkness is more prevalent than the stars themselves. It was never the dark that caused fear. Things inside that pitch-black void that scared people, but Ludris was nearly immune to such fears. He had seen many horrid creatures in his sails, and he was not afraid of such creatures that skulk in the dimness of the ship's bowels nor of death.

"We must restore the lights in this section. Enginseer, are you ready?"

"Affirmative. Replacement power couplings are ready."

"Awallis, take Team Alpha and take point. Team Beta and Delta will guard me and Enginseer. Team Gamma will take the rear."

"Aye, captain."

At the commands of the Rogue Trader captain and his certitude, the men fanned out into the wide corridor enough to fit at least two Astartes to walk side by side.

Ten men in dark gray with green stripes moved in, their powerful Hotshot lasguns pointed forward. Following them were twenty two men including Ludris and the Enginseer. They were armed with Hellguns, since even Ludris could not acquire more than ten Hotshot lasguns. Behind them came the Team Gamma with their ten men with Hellguns, pointing their weapons toward the back. Each of them carried a shoulder-mounted light source, while the Enginseer carried two.

Ludris gripped his Bolt Pistol tightly with his left hand and had his right hand on the handle of the sheathed Power Sword, ready to strike out at anything. However, he did not get the chance.

The light behind him flickered out and teams Alpha, Beta, Delta were the only visible people.

"Team Gamma!"

Someone shouted, and everyone turned, their shoulder lights flashing toward the back, but only finding empty space with no Gamma team.

"What?"

"Ugh!"

They quickly turned again, and this time, half the Alpha team was gone. In fact, it was more like four and half the team was gone. One of the soldiers had left behind his lower half. The body was cleaved so cleanly that the remains of the intestines only slowly fell from the belly and legs.

"Ready yourselves!"

"Argh!"

Someone screamed, and then silence was there once more.

"What is going on!"

Ludris roared as he unsheathed his sword, then an answer came from somewhere unexpected.

"There is no escape for you."

"What?"

He turned and saw the Enginseer slowly turning his face, but the face of the half-machine priest of the Mechanicus was no longer the stuff of man. The eyeballs had given way to two black tentacles with eyeballs at the ends, and the tubes connecting the Enginseer's mouth to this mechines had been replaced by vine-like thing that pulsed and shuddered with each labored breath.

"We are Chaos."

Ludris did not answer the declaration with words. Instead, he swung his Power Sword, instantly severing the head of the Enginseer.

"Filth! I will brook no Chaos on my ship."

"But you are too late."

Guns moved and the men pointed their guns at the source of the voice, Awallis. He had changed also in such short amount of time. Orange tentacles were shooting out from his ears and nostrils, while the eye socket was now maws of many teeth and the mouth showed a single large eyeball whose iris seemed to be burning. With a sudden cracking noise, his arms fell, replaced by squirming tentacles that held tiny bone-spears on each end.

"Kill it!"

The men did not hesitate. Hot scorching lasers blasted holes into the mutated creature, and formerly human soldier was now down on the ground, only the tentacles squirming slowly. However, the ordeal did not end there. During that moment of shooting, six of the Beta team fell from friendly fire. Some of the the Delta team fired their weapons against the Beta team.

"You've killed them? Why?"

Those six who killed their comrades took off the masks that protected their face. Instead of face, there was black ooze that filled where the head should be. Five eyeballs floated among the constantly changing blob while tiny green tentacles shot out from the ooze constantly as if they caught the air and brought it into the creature.

"Foul mutants!"

Ludris wasted no time firing his Bolt Pistol into the creatures, and others followed suit.

"Take off your masks. Let me see your face!"

Those wearing masks took them off except the last one.

"Come on, soldier. Take off your mask."

The man cocked his head.

"I am wearing no mask, captain."

Everyone froze.

"What?"

The mask of the last man seemed to twist and reform. Tiny horns appeared and vines of thorns began to grow from the side as if replacing his hair.

"I do not know who is behind this, but I will kill you."

Ludris was now greatly angered. He believed that all this could end by killing whatever that came aboard from that damned planet below. The Power Sword split the creature's head into two, and the creature fell.

Suddenly, the lights above Ludris flickered and everything went dark for a moment before the lights came back on. It was only then Ludris realized something terrible. Almost all of the men were gone, leaving only three men whose backs were turn on him. There was a sinking feeling in his heart. Something was wrong. Gulping with nerves, he readied his sword when the three men turned.

One had no facial features and it was just smooth flesh that squirmed as if it had things that moved beneath the skin. Another had only the half a head, the top half above the nose gone as if it was cut off by someone. The nose remained there along with the mouth, but behind them were empty sag of flesh, devoid of a skull but frame held together by black gunk. The third man had a large slit in the middle of his face standing vertically. It was a giant mouth with flat teeth and five tongues inside. Beside the large vertical mouth were two pairs of eyes, and tentacles for beard.

The feeling of disgust that had been building up from the moment when the Enginseer began to ooze black ichor finally reached its peak, and it took all of the Rogue Trader's strength to keep himself from vomiting. Instead of puking on the spot, he bit down on his lips and fired his Bolt Pistol into two of them and struck the third with his Power Sword.

"It is over..."

He muttered as the lights seemed to return. He felt an odd sense of victory. He had triumphed over the monsters and stuffs of Chaos.

"Rogue Trader Ludris von Ishbael, you have been in contact with the Chaos."

Someone spoke. He turned and saw from distance a small group of people who seemed to burn bright in silvery fire that purged the darkness around them. One of them carried the symbol of the Inquisition, and he had two Astartes and two others as his retinue.

"What? No! I killed them! I killed the Chaos aboard."

"Then what is that on your armor and hands?"

There was a rough scratching of Chaos Star on his chest armor, and his hands were covered in black ooze and tiny tentacles were growing from them. His Power Sword seemed to scream with souls of people.

"Wake up! You have just slaughtered your men in your delirium."

Ludris looked around and saw no mutants but the slaughtered bodies of his men and others who looked terrified of their own captain. There was blood everywhere.

"Ludris von Ishbael... It was lucky that I had sneaked aboard your ship, and though your contact and conversion to Chaos seem utterly coincidental, we must investigate. We must investigate not just you and your ship, but your fleet and your whole family."

The faceless Inquisitor chuckled darkly.

"I have some old history with your family. It will be my genuine pleasure to condemn all of them to their deaths."

Ludris broke.

"NO! Not my family! Not my fleet!"

His greatest fears were coming true. He was now afflicted with Chaos, and his sins and enemies were coming together to ruin not just him but all that he held dear. His family and the whole planet were going to be destroyed, while his ships and crew would be investigated by the Inquisition. The ships may be purged and survive but the crew would soon find their souls burned by the psychic flames of the Inquisitors.

"Noooooo!"

Then the whispers continued.

~So much death... Your little sister would die... Your mother will die... They will all die...~

Ludris looked up at the Inquisitor and the Astartes and every Imperial in his view.

"I want vengeance... but... but... what can I do? I am but one man, and I've lost the fleet... I've lost my ship."

~There are no escapes... For you, there is only pain and suffering... only despair...~

"What can I do?"

~Give in... Give in to the despair... Give in to the Chaos!~

"Will that save everyone?"

~Of course... that is the only way you can survive.~

"Then I shall join the Chaos! I shall embrace the despair!"

Ludris felt different the moment that he declared his new allegiance to Chaos. He felt his heart beat faster and stronger. It pumped harder and stronger, and the beating became larger. It felt his heart had grown larger, and then his chest began to tighten. He looked down, and in his nakedness, he saw this chest being covered in hexagonal shells like those of turtles, but with tiny thorns growing on them. He saw his hands slowly fusing together. The four fingers and a thumb became two large stubby fingers with an extra joint and very long thumb. From his mouth, his tongue grew out so long that it reached his belly button, which seemed to have a rat's tail growing out from the hole.

~Good... Despair, Ludris, and know that your descent into madness had begun long before...~

The word awakened Ludris. Something was very wrong. There couldn't possibly be an Inquisitor aboard. He knew almost every one of his crew and Armsmen, and the ship was empty except them.

"What?"

* * *

He woke up and found himself bound and placed inside a large crystalline tub filled with translucent red gel, and he was inside the gel, naked and with hundreds of tiny needles with tubes stuck on his body. He was breathing through a large black tube and his head hurt. His eyes were in pain but he could no longer close them. Instead, he saw a mighty form standing over him.

"You are awake, captain von Ishbael."

It was the voice of the whisper and the Inquisitor. Yet, he saw a Chaos Astartes in Terminator Armor, and with all the evil flowing off the warrior like flames.

"Welcome to the service of Chaos."

Ludris quickly looked down at his body, and saw, much to his dismay, hundreds of tiny flesh-colored tentacles looking back at him with tiny eyeballs. It was then that Ludris finally broke down. All his nightmares had just come true, and now he was irrevocably contaminated. His sanity began to crumble. His mind became slave to the tiny whispering daemon in his head.

"At last I shall have a proper ship, thanks to you, captain von Ishbael."

* * *

**END OF CHAPTER 12**


	13. Chapter 13

Thanks for all your comments!

There was a comment about Nurgle being the Chaos God of Despair. If you interpret it that way, both Nurgle and Tzeethch are gods of fear of 'something', and Malal the Renegade Chaos God is the God of Terror.

Amid all that, Arthur seeks to become a new God of Chaos, taking all of the 'fear' aspect and 'despair' aspect from the Chaos. Of course, this puts him in conflict with other Chaos Gods, just as Nurgle is against Tzeentch, Khorne is against Slaanesh.

Anyway, enjoy the chapter!

PS: Chapter 14 is going to be Russians (possibly Spetsnaz) vs Arthur! Exciting just to write it! Of course, I've begun the next chapter of the Swarm of War, and I am half-way through the next Chapter of the Galactic Imperium!

* * *

**Chapter 13**

**Milky Way Galaxy**

**Ultima Segmentum**

**Maelstrom Zone**

**Magog Cluster – Rook System**

**Rook III**

The Lunar-class Cruiser was given a new name after Arthur broke her captain's sanity and forced him into servitude as a specialized Servitor permanently plugged into his beloved flagship. Now called 'Zion of Despair', the 5km long cruiser was quickly swarmed over by thousands of Cultists in EVA suits to be reborn as a ship of Chaos. In fact, the ship was to be decorated as the flagship of the worship of Diablo, the titular name of the Terror God-to-be. Statues of Imperial heroes were pulled down and melted down only to be remade into horrifying visages. Creatures of nightmares were formed in gold and iron and placed upon the vessel in sickening display of evil.

In the center was the Morghastur, surrounded by five daemonic creatures. The image of the Morghastur had changed a little to resemble its master, only once witnessed thus far. Its legs were no longer a pair of man-like things, but now replaced by five writhing tentacles. Its two pairs of arms were also changed to look its master's bestial form. Surrounding the great creature were the five daemonic creatures that Arthur hoped to recreate with his powers.

Behind the Morghastur, at the pinnacle of a pentagram was a giant form of Shoggoth, derived from the fevered imagination of H.P Lovecraft and given new form by Arthur's dark mind. No longer was this Shoggoth the formless 'shapeless congeries of protoplasmic bubbles, faintly self-luminous, and with myriads of temporary eyes forming and un-forming as pustules of greenish light all over the tunnel-filling front'. It was now a stranger beast but with slightly better form. Front half of the creature was like a giant toad, its two front paws of congealed tentacles holding up its slimy head that held five separate jaws of gel that had tiny fangs oozing with green acid. The lower half of its body was like an amalgamation of a dozen millipedes, though the legs were tiny tentacles with suckers of them. On its back, the new Shoggoth was back in its normal form, with its protoplasmic form boiling out in long tentacles. Overall, however, the new Shoggoth was just the normal Shoggoth trapped in invisible frame of Arthur's own mind.

In front of the Morghastur were two identical creatures. They made up the lower two points of the pentagram. They were a semi-biological copy of Sentinels from Matrix movie series, and they were given such name. The head was large and bulbous; the skull of the creature looking more like a football lying on its side with horns coming out of them. There was a mouth of the creature, but it was circular with no teeth but tiny tentacles that crackled with bio-electricity. It had five sets of five small eyes, each glowing in red, and depicted on the statue with giant crystal with fresh blood inserted into the corner and a light source shining the crystal from behind. Beneath its giant head were myriads of tentacles, twenty-five of them to be exact. Each tentacle was clearly biological but encased in half-broken pieces of metallic rings that worked as protective armor for the tentacles. At the ends of the tentacles, the beast had many tools of destruction, including claws, guns, lasers and flamers and skulls of those devoured.

On the both sides of the Morghastur were creatures derived from other dark imaginations. These were derived from the monsters of Tolkien's works. The Ungolrog was an abyssal fusion of giant spiders of Ungoliant and the fire daemons of Melkor. The creature had the head of a Balrog, with horns and skull-like face and eyes burning in indigo flame, but its mouth was that of a spider. While its chest was like a Balrog and its heavily muscled form clad in charred iron plates, the lower body was that of a spider, with four pairs of thick spider-legs holding up the monster. The legs and the belly were also clad in iron armor while the long flaming tail was like that of a scorpion. On the back of its torso, the Ungolrog had fleshless wings made up not of bones but of spider legs, each ending with sharp hook on the end. Its arms were like that of a Balrog, but instead of hands, it had claws that resembled the Crushing Claws of a Tyranid Carnifex.

Of course, these were but some of the horrors that covered the ship. Skulls of those sacrificed to El Sokauron were coated in iron and were hung, strung up with thick chains. Spines of hundreds of thousands of people covered various exposed parts of the ship, while the whole sections of the ship was blessed and showered with blood. Stars of Chaos were drawn everywhere, most of them being the Chaos Star of Terror, with the top five arrows emboldened and enlarged. Even as the desecration of the flagship continued, the lesser ships of the Rogue Trader's fleet had finished their own decorations.

The Rogue Trader's flagship was the mighty Lunar-class Cruiser, but with the von Ishbael Dynasty facing hard times, the escorts were rather light. Three Cobra-class Destroyers, one Claymore-class Corvette and one Tempest-class Frigate were all the escorts given to Ludris von Ishbael, other ships of the once-mighty dynasty now protecting the family's home. Still, it was much greater prize than the 'Icon of Despise', a meager Cobra-class Destroyer. Now Arthur had a whole fleet of ships, including a very large vessel capable of 'real' orbital bombardment. His two Techmarines worked tirelessly to bring the ships up to the standard that Arthur wanted them. Arthur even conjured five thousand balls of energy, the result of 'Ctrl + F2' cheat. Each orb of thin crystalline membrane contained enough energy to fully recharge a Power Armor's power pack by simply throwing the orb at the armor with enough strength to crack the crystal.

Arthur had quickly moved the contents of his personal chamber aboard the 'Icon of Despise' to his new Captain's Chamber aboard the 'Zion of Despair'. Walls were removed and he joined four smaller rooms and two medium rooms into his personal space. He ordered his Techmarines to construct a powerful vault to store the numerous artifacts that he had conjured. The four smaller rooms were going to be the chambers of his personal bodyguards, which he would create when he returned to Arthur's dimension. Dozens of skulls bearing marks of Chaos were delivered, their true value known only to Arthur, and many sets of Power Armors and weapons were also placed upon the newly made shelves inside the vault.

Arthur was pleased now that he had the means to assail more Imperial worlds. When he was with only the 'Icon of Despise' he was more cautious. While he would be a force to be reckoned with on the ground, his forces were a minor fish in space. However, with a Lunar-class Cruiser, he was now the owner of a small fleet.

"My lord?"

Arthur paused as the voice of Terrorhost Secondus called to him. He turned away from the works of his Techmarines creating a special personal throne with many technological devices attached to it.

"Speak, Secondus."

Names were powerful things, he thought, and so he gave them numbers so that they would not gain influence through the power of their names. Names like Abaddon the Despoiler, or Ahriman of Thousand Sons were great names and with each conquest, they were filled with more power. However, if one's name was merely '2', then it was not quite easy to bring out the fear and respect from the fellow warriors.

"Lord, we have found a small amount of cargo that contained certain supplies that would solve our munitions problem. What shall we do with them?"

It was truly unfortunate that Arthur's powers could not conjure up ammunition. The requisition cheat 'Ctrl+F1' only ever gave metal ingots. It was good that he could change what metal they were, but he could not summon bolt rounds or other ammunitions. Even the summoned Chaos Marine Squad required bolt rounds, as their weapons did not magically produce ammunitions like in the games. While Arthur's methods of conquest thus far had minimized the waste of ammunitions, his next target was going to require fair amount of munitions to conquer.

"Take me there!"

"Yes, Lord El Sokauron."

Secondus and Arthur arrived at one of the smaller cargo bays, and it was the only room in the ship's most recent manifest to not contain a portion of those three hundred thousand colonists.

The colonists, totalling nearly five hundred thousand spread across the entire fleet of the Rogue Trader, were summarily sacrificed; some of them personally slaughtered by Arthur, while others were killed by his Chaos Marines or the Cultists. In any case, the sacrifices had given Arthur more power to increase the 'population limit'. He was now capable of summoning up to 300 points of population having sacrificed 536,800 people just for the purpose of increasing the population limit. With each instance of the population cheat requiring +20% of the previous sacrifice, it was soon going to be a problem for Arthur if he wanted to build a Chaos Marine Legion.

"There are one hundred containers with single Ceres pattern Bolt Pistol and five fully loaded ten-round magazines with regular bolt rounds in them."

At the words Primus who waited for Arthur to arrive, Arthur narrowed his eyes behind his helmet.

"Ceres pattern... made for the hands of the lowly mortals. Useless to us Astartes, but it would do well in equipping my Cultists."

"Our thoughts had reached such conclusion, my lord."

Arthur looked around at the various containers in the place.

"What of other things here?"

"There are one hundred containers of one Locke-pattern Bolter and five fully loaded thirty-round magazines. They also came with thirty containers with three hundred bolter rounds."

"I assume they are with the Bolt Pistols in their destination?"

"Yes, lord. Half of Bolt Pistols and Bolters are to be sent to a newly founded Imperial Guard Regiment and its Commissars, while the others are to be distributed among the Imperial Guards in Vahamos Sector."

Vahamos Sector was in the Ultima Segmentum and quite near the Maelstrom Zone but it had no real value to the Imperium except for the fact that it was of Imperium.

"Vahamos? It is a remote sector... why would they need such weapons?"

"Last time I've heard, Orks are invading them. Just like the pathetic Imperium to lose a sector to Orks."

Secondus swore at the incompetence of the Imperium while Arthur mused.

"Interesting... Tell me more about the cargo."

"There are also six containers of Heavy Bolter rounds, each with five standard three hundred-round boxes inside."

"Twenty-nine thousand Bolter rounds with the weapons and nine thousand Heavy Bolter rounds but no Heavy Bolter... Anything else?"

Secondus looked at the manifest.

"There are one hundred thirty containers of standard Imperial Guard Flak Armor, my lord. Each container holds ten of such crude armor. There are also eight containers of Stormtrooper Carapace Armor sets. There are twenty containers of ten standard lasguns sets with two replacement barrels and two magazines in each set, my lord. Not enough to arm all your Cultists."

Arthur growled in displeasure. While he immensely enjoyed the grotesque and incoherent forms of his monsters and horrors, he actually wanted a proper Cultist army that could even hold on against the Loyalist Astartes, either to give time for Arthur's Chaos Marines to arrive or buy time for Arthur's elites to flee.

"Two hundred lasguns plus the fifty or so from the 'Icon of Despise' will not do. Hmm... We will require plenty of autoguns to fufil the need."

"Yes, my lord. However, this Rook Tertius has little to no facilities or technology to produce such weapons, let alone a lasgun.

"That is my concern, Primus. Once we have taken the Angstrom system, we shall have all the resources we would ever want. Until then, we must attempt out best to conserve or acquire resources through unconventional means."

Arthur's eyes gleamed through the gap in the helmet.

"Do you mean... piracy?"

"Yes. We shall need a larger fleet and greater force to take Angstrom."

"Indeed, my lord. A Forge World protected by an Explorator fleet base would be suicidal with our current force."

Arthur chuckled.

"Soon, we shall be mighty, and until then, we must lay low and bide our time. When I am ready, we shall depart to the Lamptan System, and take Lamptan V and VI, turning those worlds into my Nightmare Worlds and recruit suitable candidates to be trained as my dark Astartes."

Chuckling at his own plans, he turned from his Primus and Secondus, and spoke to the four summoned Chaos Marines who followed him as his bodyguards.

"One of you call forth some slaves and bring me the lasguns and equal number of Flak Armor sets. Three of you, bring me ten Bolter sets and five Bolt Pistol sets."

"Yes, lord."

"Primus, continue your work in desecrating this vessel to suit our needs. Secondus, command the Colonel and the Captain Vilas to select among their soldiers who are more technologically attune. I shall instruct my Techmarines to turn them into something useful and rightly corrupt."

"As you command, my lord El Sokauron."

* * *

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* * *

**Milky Way Galaxy**

**Sol System**

**Earth**

**USA – LA**

Arthur stepped through the portal once more. He had enough souls sacrificed to create portals to come through, though he knew to careful with the energy lest he be stuck on this side of the dimension. It would take quite a long time to sacrifice two hundred forty nine thousand souls to recharge the amulet. Without a Spirit Stone of an Eldar Farseer prepared with specific rituals and then fed to his amulet, the efficiency of recharging his amulet would continue to get worse.

Following Arthur were a mass of chains that held the floating containers of Bolters, Bolt Pistols, lasguns and Flak Armor. After depositing them carefully out the window and down on the backyard, Arthur shed his Terminator Armor and put on the set of armor and weapons he had created before he created the Terminator Armor. Though it was powerful, the Terminator Armor was still too cumbersome. Instead, he picked up the 'Mantle of Loki', the 'Fang of Dread' and the Melta Pistol 'Flames of Damnation' as well as a couple of other items.

It was unlucky that summoning forth items could only be done in the 40K universe and Arthur could not directly create and summon an item on this side.

"It matters not, however, but the fact that I cannot summon forth my armies without far greater concentration of power is truly lamentable."

Arthur muttered to himself as he sat back down his chair. He had gone to the kitchen and grabbed himself some steak that he quickly cooked with Warp fire and then devoured the rare meat with a ravenous hunger. After quenching his thirst with a whole bottle of soda, he went to work on new items and certain new programming he needed to do before returning to the 40K universe.

As he typed and processed the new programming lines, the army list he could summon from the Chaos Temple began to change.

The first tier units still consisted of Chaos Heretics, Chaos Havocs, Chaos Space Marines, Chaos Raptors and Chaos Rhino with the option to upgrade it to Razorback. With the '40K Destroyer' mod and Arthur's new programming, the Heretics came in groups of 15 plus the option to add an Aspiring Champion who came with nine more Heretics However, Arthur was probably never going to summon them unless he needed to use the 'Worship' ability or to build 'Chaos Shrines'. Even then, Heretics were extremely inefficient way of using the Amulet's power.

With the mod, Chaos Space Marines came in a group of nine, including a Techmarine, and the option to add an Aspiring Champion. Each of the Chaos Marines cost 5 population to summon, while a Heretic only cost 1. However, Arthur's own mod had made the Chaos Marines much more powerful. His fondness for Chaos Marines had made the Chaos Marines and Space Marines to cut down at least two and half squads of Heretics or units of the low echelon. However, costing 5 population each, the whole squad cost Arthur 50 population to summon from the Chaos Temple, and Arthur knew that he could no longer change the number.

He had two whole squads of Chaos Space Marines already summoned, but now he needed some Chaos Havocs. The Havocs of his mod cost same 5 population as the CSM, but they came in a group of four with the option for an Aspiring Champion. In his mod, two of the four Havocs would be equipped with Heavy Bolters and other two with mere Bolters, but the lesser armed Havocs were given the option go gain either a Lascannon, an Autocannon or a Missile Launcher, while the Aspiring Champion would be given a melee weapon to protect his squad against enemy melee counters.

Chaos Raptors also cost 5 each, and came in nines with the option of Aspiring Raptor Champion. Arthur gave them additional options for weapons beyond Bolt Pistols and Chainswords. 'Plasma Pistol and Power Sword' and 'Flamer and Chain Axe' were the two options he gave them. Yet, he did not want the Raptors yet. As for the Rhino, Arthur gave it extra health and armor, and kept the option to change into a Razorback.

"Now, to Tier 2. I will need some elites... Chaos Chosen Squad would do, and the ability to summon Chaos Terminators, and push the Chaos Predator down from Tier 3 to Tier 2. Remove the Bloodletter and Bloodcrusher. Pity that I cannot summon daemons... even my own... Finally, I will need an Apothecary."

After some more programing, he added new units and changed the Tiers of units.

"Let's check the list... Hmm... I have two Chaos Space Marines Squads, which cost me one hundred population. Now, I want two Havocs with Champions, a Chosen Squad with their Champion, a Terminator Squad and an Apothecary with three servitors. That would be 235 population points... now I just need to get vehicles. Chaos Dreadnought at 15 points, two Razorback turned Rhino at total of 20, and a Chaos Predator at 20... Total of 290 population points! Nice! I would even have 10 points remaining."

For a single moment, Arthur was back to being a nerd, but the contents of his works were far darker than anyone could have realized.

"Now, item one my list is complete. It's time to spread chaos and destruction upon THIS world. HA!"

* * *

**Germany**

Within a week of Arthur's return to his home, the German military was on high alert. Someone had stolen twenty eight fully-operational Leopard 2A6 tanks, more than three thousand shells for the tanks' Rheinmetall 120 mm guns, and nearly three hundred thousand rounds for the tanks' secondary armament, the two 2×7.62 mm MG3A1 machine guns. Not only that, one of the factories that had the facility to make the 7.62×51mm NATO rounds had a theft, where the entire production equipment was stolen along with pretty much everything in the factory and the storage facility. The German authorities feared for the worst as the total number of bullets stolen was in excess of nearly six hundred thousand rounds.

* * *

**USA**

Even as the days passed and the securities around the world began to tighten against terrorism using stolen German tanks and guns, another incredible theft happened. Someone had managed to steal sixty nine IAV Strykers of different variants including three M1130 Commander Vehicles, six M1129 Mortar Carriers with the others being M1126 Infantry Carrier Vehicles. Then, like the Germany Incident, a remote secured facility that produced 12.7×99mm NATO rounds had lost much of its equipments and machines as well as the contents of the storage facilities.

The whole of the country was in uproar, or at least among those who knew what had happened. To have such numerous armored vehicles stolen from two countries, and to have lost so many live ammunition, it was a great embarrassment for all involved. As the NSA, CIA and FBI and every other agency looked for any hint of strange activities, they began to hear about hospitals and pharmaceutical companies and manufacturers of medical goods have thefts. Nearly a million sets of First Aid kits, millions of sterile bandages, and other medical supplies that focused on battle-field treatments were stolen. It was not long before something pieced together that a war was being prepared.

While people were concerned, they were not overly worried, After all, no Weapons of Mass Destruction had been stolen. Such ridiculous mood changed when secret cache of napalms were gone. Fear began to set in the minds of the US military commanders. Someone was preparing for a dangerous war.

* * *

**Japan**

As the world focused on USA for the next theft of military hardware, the mysterious thief struck an unexpected place. Japan's Kawasaki P-1 bombers were stolen. All eight planes were gone. It was utterly shocking.

* * *

**USA**

Within days of the theft in Japan, USA was struck again, and this time, the thief had been vicious. All eight Lockheed AC-130 gunship and forty six Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II 'Warthogs' were stolen along with plenty of ammunitions for them.

Then someone discovered something. It appeared that the thief had been hasty this time around. There were six frames taken from a CCTV before it was blasted away, and the six frames containing the perpetrator's image was sent to the special team tasked by the President to solve the problem. The experts quickly agreed that it was the character 'El Sokauron' who had shocked the West Coast with his wanton killings and bombing of a dozen places around Southern California. Under the special team, the investigative power was enormous, and they quickly found other loathsome deeds by the character.

Hundreds of soldiers and engineers who were involved with the stolen hardware began to waste away and fell into deep depression over the course of a week. They all thought it was something to do with the theft and the guilt they felt, but it was not. Some began to commit suicide or went insane. The team checked the Germany case, and indeed, scores of soldiers and engineers went insane or killed themselves in the following weeks of the theft.

* * *

**Russia**

The final act of theft happened in Russia, and it was here that those chasing the thief witnessed the might of their enemy.

* * *

** END OF CHAPTER 13**


	14. Chapter 14

Huh... the chapter was done quite quickly, so another update! Yay!

Arthur Cultists are now armed with weapons of 21th Century Earth... Hahaha!

As for the Russian, I just ran it through Google Translate.

* * *

**Chapter 14**

**Milky Way Galaxy**

**Sol System**

**Earth**

**Russia**

Heavy footsteps of Arthur's accursed Power Armor was ringing through the empty factory. He walked to the middle of the factory where an old chair had a post-it stuck on it that said 'Got you!' written on it with a permanent marker.

"Ha! I have been fooled by these mortals?"

Arthur had read the mind of a general as to where the new factory was going to be built. The old and feeble general had known various locations that tempted Arthur but T-90 tanks were too much for the burdens that he was already carrying. So, he decided to just obtain his primary objective, the production line for AK-103 rifles.

"Стой! Бросайте оружие! Положите руки над головой."

"Now they are barking at me in Russian? I am too soft on them."

Arthur turned and saw a dozen men with AK-103s that he wanted to steal. Other doors of the empty factory began to fill with more Russian soldiers.

"Я сказал, брось оружие!"

"Again with the Russian. Fools!"

"He said 'Drop your weapon'."

At the English, Arthur turned and chuckled loudly.

"Detective Adams, we meet again."

It was indeed Jake Adams but not in his trench coat. He was now clad in some sort of heavy armor. In fact, it looked a quite like the Juggernaut from Modern Warfare 2 and 3. He even held a machine gun. Arthur recognized it as the MG36 that Jake had used during their last encounter. Then Arthur noticed that more of such Juggernauts appeared.

"It appears that the Juggernauts from Modern Warfare 2 had been taken from real things."

"It's good to do that sometimes when you need to use the 'plausable deniability'. Now, put your weapons down and surrender. These are Russian boys, and they are not as nice as me."

Arthur surveyed the factory. He was in the middle of the wide factory with the edges were stacked with various bricks and sacks of cement or sand.

"This was a more complicated trap than I had anticipated, but it would not matter. Not even your crude attempt at personal armor would save you from my blades and guns."

Adams put his helmet back on. He was obviously the leader of the American team as he was the only one with clear visor while other Americans had dark visors. Arthur scoffed at such appearance as Adams attempted one more chance at diplomacy.

"This is your last chance. Not even you can fight us all."

Arthur laughed at the words.

"Ha ha ha! Ten Americans in crude power armor and fifty Russians can take me on? You surely jest, Detective Adams."

"It's Major now, fucker. Fire!"

Bullets rained upon Arthur he merely laughed as he squeezed his psychic powers into the hidden Iron Halo disguised as Chaos Star. A fuzzy aura appeared around his head, and it instantly grew large enough to cover all of him. Bullets came, then met the field of energy and then they either veered off or became very slow. The gunfire stopped as the soldiers quickly reloaded their empty guns.

"I am content to stay put while you waste your ammunition, Detective Adams. However, that would be a waste of my time."

Arthur breathed in deep before launching himself toward an American Juggernaut and eight Russians hiding behind sacks of sand that covered them to their waist. The mass of the Power Armor added with Arthur's strength became a true juggernaut, and the soldiers were scattered from the impact. Only the American Juggernaut was still in place, not because he was heavy enough or the soldier was strong, but because Arthur's blade had so easily skewered him and held him in place.

"Such waste."

Arthur stopped and flung the body to the right at the Russians. Others had reloaded their weapons and continued to fire upon Arthur, but Arthur was not harmed. The Iron Halo's aura was getting smaller, but even his Power Armor was flowing with great power of defense that bullets could not so easily crack.

"Death by flames!"

"Ешьте собственного дерьма, ублюдок!"

"I still do not understand you, Russian!"

The Melta Pistol flared up, and six Russians in Arthur's path were instantly vaporized by the incredible heat while the legs, the only remaining bits of their body, were on fire.

"HEY!"

Jake shouted at Arthur and fired his MG36 at the Chaos Lord. Perhaps it was because of the innate psychic talent in Jake, or because the Iron Halo's aura was weaken from hails of bullets, but Jake's bullets hit Arthur's helmet and they exploded in small sparks.

"Hm? Armor piercing rounds with explosive cores? I am impressed, Detective."

Arthur turned, facing Jake who came too close. Arthur slowly raised his sword and swung down, giving Jake to easily evade it, but it was to give space between them. Arthur quickly raised his Melta Pistol.

"Pity that you die here."

In that moment of truth, someone tackled Arthur. It was an American Juggernaut, and though he was still much smaller than Arthur, it gave enough room for Jake to evade the attack. The heat was intense, and Jake's armor caught small fires, which went out when Jake rolled on the ground.

"FUCK!"

"You dare interrupt me, worm?"

Arthur did not even strike down the American with his sword, he just slammed the hilt into the tough helmet. The American juggernaut fell, blood pouring out from every gap in his massive armor and the large crack that appeared on his helmet.

"Doom Bolt!"

This time, the Chaos Sorcerer Lord pointed his Power Sword at another group of Russians, and though the weapon was not a Force Weapon of a psyker, it still fired twenty-five bolts of hate that crushed and blasted apart twelve Russians.

"Пожар в отверстие!"

More Russian was heard, but Arthur did not understand them. He did, however, understood the meaning of a grenade tossed right between his feet.

"Oh?"

Boom!

The explosion rocked the factory, but the Russians were professionals. They did not relax their guard. They had all been briefed about their enemy whose armor could withstand direct hits from sniper rifles.

"Damn it! Force him outside! Outside! привести его пределами!"

"Hm?"

Someone apparently had a shotgun, and that Russian came running up to Arthur shaking off the impact amid the smoke and fired the shotgun into Arthur's helmet. With each strike, Arthur stumbled backward, but the shotguns ammunition did not last. Then with a single swipe of Arthur's sword, the Russian fell, his torso falling backward.

All the Russians and Americans were firing their weapons at Arthur in a concerted effort. Without the Iron Halo aura Arthur was vulnerable to the kinetic energy being stacked up against him. It was not that it really hurt him but Arthur was curious as to what preparation they had against him. With few more steps, Arthur was against the wall, but Arthur did not get pushed out of the factory so easily.

"Let the Galaxy Burn!"

From few inches in front of Arthur's helmet appeared five large balls of fire, not glowing orange but indigo, the color of Arthur's own. Then he launched the basketball-sized fireballs at the Russians. Jake quickly ducked just as one of the fireballs passed over him.

Screams were everywhere once more, and Arthur felt at home. Half the factory was burning in extreme fires of despair, and the Russians were dying along with the Americans. Only Jake and another American Juggernaut had survived along with six Russians. Arthur had killed fifty-two people in just a few minutes.

"Now, let's see what is out there that you've prepared for me, Detective Adams."

Arthur gently touched the blade to the wall, and by the power of his psychic abilities, the wall exploded outward, the shards holding more energy in them than bullets.

Soldiers outside screamed as they were peppered with tiny stones and large slabs, and they killed. Tiny pebbles and stones pierced their crude armor and entered deep into their flesh, while the large slabs broke through limbs and crushed torsos. From amid the chaos of the explosion, Arthur appeared in his fully dark glory. He saw a BMP-3, the Boevaya Mashina Pehoty (Боевая Машина Пехоты, "Infantry Combat Vehicle"), and two BMD-3 Boyevaya Mashina Desanta ("Боевая Машина Десанта", literally "Combat Vehicle of the Airborne") to support the BMP-3.

"Ah! Armored vehicles! Yes, this would do nicely!"

The vehicles turned their guns on Arthur. 30Mm autocannons and bullets from their machine guns came at Arthur. Yet, he was a Chaos Lord of great power. He could not be bowed by such crude weapons. Though his armor's paints were ground off by the machine guns and his armor dented by the cannon shells, he pushed forward, only knocking aside cannon shells that came at his face.

Then when he was close enough to one of the BMD-3, he raised his Melta Pistol and fired. The vehicle's cockpit was instantly turned into a molten slag with the metal around the hole still glowing in bright orange. The crew inside were roasted alive within seconds as the sheer heat of the Melt Pistol's attack turned the vehicle into an oven. Super-heated air exploded out from the hole and met the cold Russian air, turning into steam.

With one vehicle disabled, Arthur turned only to find the two vehicles retreating while maintaining their attack on him.

"Cowards! I will endure no coward in my presence! Chains of Terror!"

This was a modified version of Chains of Torment, and it was different in that the it was not a way of holding multiple enemies in place, but more of tearing a single enemy apart. The other BMD-3 suddenly stopped when the ground beneath it burned dark blue and it sank a little as if it was stuck in a swamp. Then scores of thick black chains with wicked hooks on them were spat out from the ground and attached themselves to the hull of the vehicle, and then they pulled. With the sound of metal screaming like the crew inside, the vehicle was torn apart, and the crew inside were caught by yet more chains. The hooks on the chains were meant for vehicles, and instead of locking on to the crew, the hooks shredded them to pieces.

"I always wondered if I could really tear apart a tank with my bare hands. Warp!"

With a flash of crimson flame, Arthur teleported himself to the fleeing BMP-3 and landed on top of the light tank.

Tucking his Melta Pistol and Power Sword to his belt, Arthur looked around the vehicle, and found that the crew had locked the hatch tight. Chuckling, he first grabbed the gun barrel.

"Hmp! Not so easy, but doable."

With a single grunt, Arthur's Power Armor whirred into gear and added their strength to Arthur's labor. Then with the sound of metal fatigue, the gun barrel bent and twisted and collapsed, while the root of it began to come off.

"One more pull!"

The cannon was now gone, thrown aside, and Arthur grabbed the edges of the exposed hole, and pulled. Deciding that he needed to stop the vehicle's movement, he jumped down from the top, and slammed his fist into the hatch of the driver's seat.

"Нет, пожалуйста! Не убивайте меня!"

The Russian driver screamed something in Russian, but Arthur still didn't know Russian and didn't care. He grabbed the driver's head with his left hand and squeezed. With his incredible strength, the skull began to crack and the Russian screamed.

"Your screams are more manly than American screams. I like that."

Crackle!

The head exploded, showering the cockpit with blood and brain. Throwing aside the corpse, Arthur grabbed the edges of the open hatch.

"May be a little psychic power here."

The vehicle had stopped, and it began to groan as the psychic energy pulse from Arthur's hands. Then, like tearing thick paper, Arthur's own groans of effort were replaced by the metal of the tank screaming as it was torn apart. Once he was done with opening up the vehicle, the looked at the frightened commander inside.

"Hello."

"Что?"

"I said, 'hello', and you should reply properly!"

With lightning fast hand, Arthur snatched up his Melta Pistol and fired it into the commander's body, instantly creating a hole in the tank.

Stepping off the tank, Arthur focused his mind once more, and grabbed the tank. With light moan of a dead creature, the tank was lifted up by his hand. Arthur turned his had and saw Jake and surviving soldiers all looking at him with shock and awe.

"Detective Adams, a gift from me!"

Jake managed to dodge as the BMP-3 was flung at him, and the metal rolled at incredible speed. The other Amerian juggernaut was not so fortunate, while the Russians all managed to evade the attack.

Jake gritted his teeth when he saw Arthur waving at him.

"Detective, I shall see you again, I hope. Please, entertain me better next time, would you please?"

With a horrifyingly cruel laughter, Arthur disappeared in a burst of indigo flames.

Jake later learned that El Sokauron had tracked down the real factory and stole an entire production line of AK-103 rifles, nearly two thousand rifles in stock and all the materials in the storage areas as well as the ammunition factory for the guns' bullets.

* * *

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* * *

**Milky Way Galaxy**

**Ultima Segmentum**

**Maelstrom Zone**

**Magog Cluster – Rook System**

**Rook III – Lunar-class Cruiser 'Zion of Despair'**

Upon returning to his private chamber aboard his new flagship 'Zion of Despair', Arthur picked up the numerous items he had created. He had grabbed a crate and placed small golf-ball sized orbs of swirling blue that crackled with energy. They came in clusters like grapes. Each orb was bound to what looked like bones with bits of muscle, and each cluster was made of twenty-five orbs, and he had ten such bunches, giving him two-hundred fifty orbs. These were important items that he would need to turn his little into the Dreadfleet of Diablo, a signature fleet like the Plaguefleet of Nurgle.

Then there were other items, but they were carefully stored in the vault. Commanding his four summoned Chaos Marines to attend him, Arthur moved out of his personal chamber. Yet, for some reason, his steps seemed labored, as if he was carrying enormous burden. By the time he arrived at the main cargo bay, he was breathing heavily and two of his summoned Marines had to support him. Primus and Secondus were surprised to see their master so weakened.

"My lord, what has happened?"

"Silence! My designs and plans are beyond you, and there is no need for your questions."

Primus bit back his lips, but he saw how El Sokauron was weakened to a state that he could not even stand by himself. He shared a glance with Secondus who seemed to think similar thing. Then suddenly, all of the summoned Chaos Marines pointed their weapons at the two.

"What is this?"

Arthur chuckled despite heavy breathes.

"Yes, I am weakened at the moment, but did you think I would be vulnerable? I cannot be killed by the likes of you, especially when I am surrounded by my minions. I do not even have to utter a word to have these kill you. A single thought , and you shall find your flesh torn and soul devoured by me."

Primus and Second backed down.

"We were thinking nothing foul, my lord."

"It is not wise to lie to me, Primus. I am lord of your soul. In life or in death, I still own you, worm!"

Then, Arthur turned to look at the vast empty space before him.

"A new Chaos Temple should be built here."

He had already destroyed the Chaos Temple aboard 'Icon of Despise', and returned the Temple into the skull-form. With a single gesture, the far end of the cargo bay glowed as pentagrams and other foul runes of sorcery were drawn, and into the heart of the pentagram, Arthur threw the skull.

"In matter of hours, my new Temple of Chaos will come into existence, so, let us attend to other matters."

They all moved to the giant elevator that linked several floors of cargo bays. The elevator was normally used to ferry vehicles or large amount of items through the decks, and it was enough to move twelve Astartes. On the floor below, they only saw rats and corpses, and few Cultists cleaning the decks. Arthur took out a ball of energy glowing in purple and crimson from a bag hanging from his belt. He murmured in some dark language for a moment before flinging the orb at the far end of the cargobay. Lightnings of a thousand different shades erupted from the orb until it reached where Arthur wanted them to.

"Witness our new vehicles that my Cultist army shall use."

With a brilliant flare of light, twenty eight Leopard 2A6 tanks, large boxes containing the three thousand shells for the tanks and nearly other boxes filled with three hundred thousand 7.62 mm x 51mm NATO rounds.

"Hmm... this cargo bay is larger than the one upstairs?"

At Arthur's question, Primus quickly got a hold on his sanity and answered his master.

"Yes, my lord. The Rogue Trader had turned large areas to extra cargo space."

"Good. I wondered where I should place these."

Another two orbs were in Arthur's hand, and soon they filled the rest of the cargo bay with sixty nine IAV Strykers and a small mountains of medical supplies.

"I have more, and this floor now lacks space. Move on!"

Arthur seemed stronger now, as if releasing the orbs removed some great burden. The next floor was quickly filled with eight Kawasaki P-1 bombers, eight Lockheed AC-130 gunships and forty-six Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II 'Warthogs'.

"They appear to be atmospheric aerospace vehicles, my lord. They look weak."

"They are weak. However, my Techmarines would see to it that they are worthy enough for the Cultists."

Primus nodded. It was clear that Arthur wanted a proper army of lesser mortals until he could acquire more Chaos Marines.

The next floor was quickly filled with production lines for AK-103 and the production lines for various ammunition that the vehicles and the AK-103.

"These look quite good for autoguns, my lord."

Secondus remarked as he looked over an AK-103.

"They are quite reliable, and though they would be enough for my Cultists, they are still lacking in firepower."

"I see. What of those... Heavy stubbers? They would surely add to the firepower?"

"You are quite acute, Secondus. They would provide extra firepower. Do you also see those boxes?"

"Yes, my lord."

"They contain small missile launchers. They would also provide excellent fire-support for my army."

Indeed, the boxes contained FIM-92 Stingers taken from various Middle-Eastern terrorist groups, India and some from US Army. There were enough to fight a small war, and that pleased Arthur, for his army needed to fight wars.

"What of these boxes, my lord?"

This time, Primus touched one of the black boxes.

"They are sniper rifles. Quite effective if used well by trained operatives."

"I suppose we would be training the Cultists?"

"Yes. I will not have a rabble fighting my name. A rabble cannot create the kind of fear that I wish to spread."

Even as they talked, they were joined by the two Techmarines.

"Techmarines."

"Command us, Lord El Sokauron."

"These vehicles and aircrafts must be upgraded with armor and new weapons. Make them suitable for my Cultists. Also, I have ordered the Colonel and Captain Vilas to select those among their men who could be trained in operating and maintaining these vehicles. Take these shards of souls and consume them, and they shall tell you all you need to know about these vehicles."

Arthur brought out two small pouches that contained tiny crystals with opaque liquid in them.

"They are distilled souls of the pilots and engineers of these things."

"As you command, my lord."

* * *

**END OF CHAPTER 14**


	15. Chapter 15

This chapter is a little longer than other chapters of this story.  
Enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter 15**

**Milky Way Galaxy**

**Ultima Segmentum**

**Maelstrom Zone**

**Magog Cluster – Rook System**

**Rook III – Lunar-class Cruiser 'Zion of Despair'**

Arthur felt that the Terminator Armor suited him better, and it was not just because of the protection it afforded but the immense power it contained pleased him in wearing it. Flexing his hand he looked at Terrorhost Primus and Secondus who came at his order.

"You have summoned us, my lord?" asked Primus. He was nervous. Ever since El Sokauron had shown a visage of horror, he had been both proud and nervous about serving his master.

"Yes, I have."

"Command us, lord El Sokauron." said Secondus, not losing a moment to suck up to Arthur.

Arthur chuckled at their impotent competition.

"As you know, it had been months since we have completed our 'upgrade' of the Cultist army. I wish to receive your progress report." demanded Arthur, his voice as dreadful as ever.

"The tanks and aircrafts have been added with extra armor to better survive in the battlefields. Your Techmarines have also figured out how to use the vox transmitters of the vehicles. It appears that these are quite advanced despite their weak build," reported Primus, his gaze still toward the floor, constantly fearing his master. "and the engines and seals of the primitive aircrafts have been replaced with more advanced technologies so that they can be launched from extreme high orbit."

Arthur nodded in approval. It was his order that the aircrafts be made to withstand the re-entry into atmosphere, so that he did not have to force his starships to descend. Techmarines have reported that such upgrade would be impossible without facilities and technologies of a Forge World. This had disappointed Arthur, but Techmarines claimed that they could make the aircrafts capable to flying from extreme high orbit so that Arthur's starships did not have to descend very far.

"What of your works, Secondus?" asked Arthurs.

Arthur's gaze was terrifying even behind the helmet, and Secondus gulped in anxiousness.

"Many of the Cultists have become competent marksman, my lord. They have learned all the drills extorted from the captured souls. The Cultists are now capable of shooting with relative accuracy even during movement, and their marksmanship has become greatly improved in static positions." Secondus declared.

"Very good. What of the upgrades to the primitive ammunition?" asked Arthur as he turned his gaze back to Primus.

"Your Techmarines have stated that these primitive autoguns are more powerful than most versions that they have ever seen. With proper ammunition, they would be powerful enough tear through Carapace Armors with ease. So, the Techmarines have just produced samples of new munitions."

"Speak further of it, Primus."

"Yes, lord. The Techmarines have gone through all the machines that make the bullets, and they have replaced the process with something suitable. The process will now produce bullets with inserted steel core surrounded by lead and encased in copper with tungsten tip." reported Primus.

"Is that all?"

"Of course not, my lord! They are also preparing to create explosive rounds for the autoguns, particularly for the heavy stubber."

"What of reproducing the machine guns?" asked Arthur, and Primus remembered that his master referred to the heavy stubbers as 'machine guns'.

"The 'machine guns' can be produced by your Techmarines given enough infrastructure, my lord."

Arthur's armored hand slammed into the ceramite/plasteel handle of his massive throne.

"Again with the lack of infrastructure! I provide much raw materials, but without a Forge World's resources, my hands are bound. I do not like it." Arthur declared, and he quickly sent a baleful glare at his two warriors.

"I now have many warriors. With my powers, I have summoned forth a cadre of Chaos Havocs and Chaos Chosen," said Arthur and at the mention of 'Chaos Chosen' five dangerous-looking Chaos Marines appeared from the Shadows. They were the Chosen, and they were now the enforcers of their master. "as well as the Chaos Terminators."

This was also true. Five Chaos Terminators with a variety of weapons had been summoned forth from the Chaos Temple like the others, but given their size, the Techmarines had to build special alcoves for them.

"Even as we speak, we have a Chaos Dreadnought ready to come out of that Temple. Yet, I am stuck here! Not because I lack warriors, but because I lack in... ships... bits of metal!" roared Arthur as he vented his frustration.

"Prepare yourselves. Once my upgrades to 'Zion of Despair' is complete, we will assail Corcrya System." He declared his intentions clearly.

"My lord, there is nothing in Corcrya System." uttered Secondus, and that was a mistake.

Powerful bolts of indigo lightning exploded from Arthur's armored fingers and struck Secondus, who screamed in pain.

"Fool! There is an Imperial Listening Outpost. It must be taken out before I can devour this whole area in waves of terror. We shall admire the incredible entropy of Warp on Bloody Bones V and crush the Orks on Galah System. Lamptan shall breed my warriors, and I shall conquer Magog."

Suddenly, someone appeared in the doorway of Arthur's chamber. It was an Apothecary, but despite looking remarkably like a Loyalist Apothecary, the frightfully horrendous decorations on his helmet and the edges of his armor had revealed him to be a terribly corrupted Chaos Apothecary, a rarity among the Chaos Marines.

"Apothecary! Come!" Arthur barked his order at the Apothecary who was followed by three Sevitors with various medical equipments.

* * *

The Apothecary was the most recent masterpiece of Arthur's programming, and was the new unit that he had summoned forth, and was crucial to Arthur's plans. Since the gene-seeds of the summoned Chaos Marines would remain real, and pure of taint for some reason, as long as Arthur's amulet held any energy left in it, Arthur could potentially grow himself a might host of real Chaos Marines. To do so required an Apothecary, and thus he programed an Apothecary with three Servitors to help him in his work.

Now, while the Apothecary was constructed to produce more Chaos Marines for Arthur, Arthur did not make the Apothecary without care. In fact, the Apothecary cost 7 population points, and his combat value was to match such cost. He was given 1000 health points, which was as much as Arthur used to have at level 1. This was to compensate for the fact that he was not a hero character, therefore his level could not go up as high as Arthur's would.

Not only did Arthur gave the Apothecary a great baseline health, he gave the character several abilities truly worthy of an Apothecary that was only really available through the game. The passive Healing Aura of the Apothecary would automatically find those under Arthur's command and it would heal wounds and injuries. Arthur actually practiced this with his Cultists. While it could not heal a mortal wound, flesh wounds could slowly close up while the Apothecary recognized the Cultist as an ally. The active Heal ability could actually heal even mortal wounds, though Arthur went through four different Cultists to discover the extent of the power.

The Apothecary also maintained two other abilities, 'Combat Stimulants' and the 'Vial of Horrors'. While the Combat Stimulants worked as it sounded, the Vial of Horrors was the Arthur's version of Purification Vial that Apothecary hero commanded in the Dawn of War 2. When thrown, the grenade would explode and a gaseous horror would be unleashed, driving those affected insane from fear. It was an idea that Arthur had from the Batman Begins. The Scarecrow's fear gas had delighted Arthur to no end when watching the movie.

It was not just these abilities that were given to the Apothecary. He was armed with an Accursed Power Axe, a weapon filled to the brim with Arthur's powers and it poisoned those struck by it with deadly toxin that brought pain and nightmares from which they cannot wake from. He also carried a Plasma Pistol as his ranged weapon. Clad in white armor with indigo edges and decorations of great horrors wrought in charred iron, the Apothecary was as powerful as one of the Chaos Chosen, and more useful to Arthur than either the Primus or Secondus.

* * *

"My lord El Sokauron, I have done as you have asked. All the gene-seeds are quite ready for implantation." reported the Apothecary, whose work had been to extract all the gene-seeds from the summoned Chaos Marines, including his own.

"I see a 'however' coming..." mused Arthur as the Apothecary chuckled at the correct answer.

"Yes, my lord. The people of this world, Rook Tertius, are not quite suitable to be used in my experiments. I require young subject who are strong and wild but free from taints of chemicals and electricity." said the Apothecary.

Arthur chuckled at the audacity of his latest minion.

"You are in luck, Apothecary. We are soon heading to Lamptan System where Lamptan Qunitus and Sextus are Feral Worlds with wild people."

"They shall do nicely, my lord."

"First, however, we must head to Corcrya System and take out the Imperial Listening Outpost so that our movements are not so easily detected by the Loyalist lackeys."

* * *

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* * *

**Maelstrom Zone**

**Magog Cluster – Corcrya System**

**Corcrya XI – Imperial Listening Outpost**

The Listening Outpost on Corcrya XI was a small but important facility that was vital to the Imperium. From this facility, the Imperium watched over the terrible opening of unreality that was the Maelstrom. It was here that the Adeptus Mechanicus constantly peered through the veils of turbulent Warp to see if any enemies of man had broken through the reality. Therefore, it was well defended for a base of such small size. Above the frozen planet was a battle station in geosynchronous orbit that connected itself to twelve massive satellites that continuously scanned the Maelstrom. All of the twelve satellites were well within the mighty Lance Batteries of the battle station, and the satellites themselves had weapons.

Below the battle station and its many banks of torpedo launchers and missile bays and Lance Batteries was the Mechanicus Outpost. This massive box-shaped facility with enormously thick walls lined with thermal wires that protected the structure from the constant snow storms and powerful turrets of laser cannons and Hydra Flak cannons had been the focal point of the Listening Outpost. It was from here that the powerful cogitators and logic-engines of the Mechanicus processed the endless streams of data from the satellites coursing through via the battle station. It was also from here that the personnel of the Mechanicus went aboard to manage the battle station with a directly linked teleporter.

Including those who served aboard the battle station one at a time, there were nine Enginseers and the Logis in charge of them all. Each Enginseer was accompanied by a Lexmechanic so that the latter could learn from their more experienced brothers. They were also defended by a cadre of Skitarii forces who stationed both the battle station and the Mechanicus Outpost. With the planet a frozen hell that would deny all but the most determined enemies, the Listening Outpost appeared to be quite safe.

It was unfortunate that their enemy was nothing short of nightmare.

~Vox communication requested. Sender: Gamma 25A-82. Base language: Hexa-code.~

The screen blinked as the communication request came from the battle station above. One of the Enginseers was on duty.

"Servitor Beta-8146, contact Logis Heradus. Request presence in Primary Communication Hub." commanded the Enginseer, not taking his three bionic eyes from the screen.

"Affirmative." The Servitor replied in monotone before disappearing out the door.

"Battle Station Gamma 25A-82. Vox communication approved."

~556E6B6E6F776E20576172702073 69676E6174757265732064657465 637465642E2039352520706F7373 6962696C697479206F6620696E63 6F6D696E672073686970732E2041 6E79207363686564756C65642073 7570706C792073686970733F (Unknown Warp signatures detected. 95% possibility of incoming ships. Any scheduled supply ships?)~

"Incoming ships? There are no scheduled supply drops this solar cycle. Confirm." replied the Enginseer as he plugged one of his mechadendrites to a console.

~436F6E6669726D65642E20506F73 7369626C6520656E656D7920696E 63757273696F6E2E205072657061 72696E6720776561706F6E207379 7374656D732E2052657175657374 696E6720646566656E736520666C 6565742064697370617463682E (Confirmed. Possible enemy incursion. Preparing weapon systems. Requesting defense fleet dispatch.)~

"Awaiting confirmation from Logis Heradus."

~57616974696E672E (Waiting.)~

The automated door to the Communications Hub opened, and Logis Heradus and his two hulking Huscarls. Without a word, the senior Techpriest plugged his mechanical hands into a console and downloaded all the relevant data before turning to the Enginseer.

"Approved. Prepare the defense fleet and power up all weapons." said the Logis, and he whispered some commands to one of the Skitarii standing guard in the hub.

"Battle Station Gamma 25A-82. Request granted." relayed the Enginseer.

~41666669726D61746976652E (Affirmative.)~

Within moments of the decision, the battle station above the planet activated its six Void Shield arrays, enveloping the battle station in overlapping sphere of powerful shield that left no gaps. Then the weapons came online. Three Lance Batteries came online, each with three barrels of these mighty laser weapons. They swiveled and turned as the battle station tested their targeting capability and tracking systems. Twenty four turrets around the battle station's surface came online also, and they fired off their quad-linked modified lascannons.

Each turret was designed against enemy fighters, and they were equipped with three sets of quad-linked lascannons modified to have extra long range. Though they were useless against the Void Shield of bigger ships, they were accurate enough against enemy fights and bombers. While these weapons were charging and preparing for battle, ports around the battle station opened up to reveal missile launchers and torpedo launchers to be used against enemy capital ships. Along with these main weapons, scores of lesser weapon batteries of laser cannons and rail guns popped up from their hidden alcoves.

It was not just the battle stations that began to prepare for a fight. The twelve satellites also armed their missile launcher turrets and laser cannons, while having their three plasma projector batteries charged up. Meanwhile the seven Defense Monitors were slowly moving to position themselves around the battle station. These slow and ungainly vessels were often the primary defense of Imperium's worlds. They were small and slow ships with their weapons batteries were relatively short-ranged. While they could threaten the incoming invaders with their Lance Batteries and various other weapons, they were not ships to fight in an offensive capacity. However, they were small and cheap to construct, and so many worlds were defended by these ships.

Preparations for battle were not only happening in space. The Mechanicus Outpost activated its own Void Shield, and increased the wall heating so that the weapons installed on the structure would not freeze. Sections of the structure's walls opened up and weapons batteries appeared from them. On the vast roof of the structure, no less than twenty four weapons batteries appeared, twenty of them being the Hydra Platforms and four Manticore Platforms. Along each side of the rectangular structure, five platforms were extended outwards on each of the top three floors. On these platforms were different weapons. The top floors were further Hydra Platforms, adding another twenty anti-air defenses around the bastion, while the second floor had four Sabre Gun Platforms with twin-linked Heavy Bolters and a single Sabre Gun Platform with searchlight. The third floor had three Sabre Gun Platforms with twin-linked Lascannons and two with Heavy Bolters. These Sabre Gun Platforms were manned by two dedicated Servitors that both fired and maintained the weapons.

Inside the structure, the personnel of the Mechanicus prepared to defend themselves. Over two hundred members of Skitarii readied their weapons and kept close to their team leaders in defense of key points across the structure while scores of Sevitors, both Gun Servitors and Combat Servitors, were brought into service. Even aboard the battle station, the Skitarii and Servitors finalized their defenses by activating Servo-turrets that littered the space station.

Then there was minutes of silence as the Mechanicus held their machine-fed breathes in anticipation.

Suddenly, an area around the planet just outside the maximum range of missiles and torpedoes began to crackle with dangerous energies of the Warp.

"They. Are. Here."

* * *

"We are here."

Arthur's voice crackled over the PA system throughout the 'Zion of Despair' and other ships of his Dreadfleet.

Arthur's Dreadfleet was new in its formation, but the horrifying effects of the Warp had been generous to his Warband. The Geller Fields had been modified so that they would allow tiny slivers of Warp energy into certain parts of the ships, where Arthur had installed special devices that channels the said Warp energy into recharging the daemonic weapons conjured by the Chaos Sorcerer Lord.

Arthur looked at the large holographic display of the planet and its defenses from the command throne in the bridge. Located deep within the ship and fortified against enemy attacks, the Bridge of an Imperial ship was possibly the safest place on a ship. From here, Arthur oversaw the scores of Cultists trained and taught by his Techmarines.

"Prepare the Nightmare Cannons and fire upon the space station and the defending fleet when we are in range. Void Shields to maximum and ready the torpedoes." commanded Arthur with a tone that allowed no questions.

The ship shuddered lightly as the first of the defender's long-range weapons exploded around it. A torpedo had come close to the 'Zion of Despair' but it had been taken out by the defense turrets of the ship, and the explosion had been absorbed by the Void Shield.

"Incoming torpedoes, my lord." reported a Cultist.

"All powers to shields, engines and weapons. Reduce the life-support to minimum. Turn off all but the emergency lights. Energy from all secondary systems to the three main systems!" barked Arthur, his command also delivered to the rest of his fleet.

The ship continued to shudder and shake in small doses as the defenders continued to fire their long-range weapons.

"Target locked, Lord" reported one of Arthur's Techmarines. "All torpedo launchers are ready and primed."

"Fire! Fire at will. Focus on the space station!"

From the prow of the ships, torpedoes now desecrated with foul markings and Warp-taint were launched against the Mechanicus battle station. Then, as the Chaos fleet came closer, the twelve satellites fired their medium-ranged weapons, quickly followed by the battle station's own weapons. Defense Monitors also turned their guns at the encroaching Chaos fleet, firing wildly at the lesser ships following right behind the 'Zion'.

The ship quaked under the assault, yet nothing had penetrated the Void Shields.

"Report on shields!" commanded Arthur, noticing the greater intensity of the impact vibration.

"Void Shield strength is holding at 77%, lord, but the energy reserves in the capacitors have fallen to 40%. The impact dispersion efficiency is at 85%," The Techmarine reported after shoving aside the Cultist managing the shield levels.

Arthur growled. The enemy's attacks have been greater than he had expected, but it was within the scope of margin. He pressed one of the ornately decorated buttons on the arms of his throne.

"Techmarine Beta, add more powers to the Void Shield generators and the engines."

~Yes, my lord.~

The other Techmarine was positioned in the engineering section that reached into major systems so that Arthur could continue to manage the ship's abilities. At his command, the Techmarine Beta led the new Servitors and slaves and Cultists to carry the orbs of power. These were the results of the energy-cheat, and each orb contained great electrical power bound by sorcery. Once at the Void Shield Generator room, where the mighty device was humming violently as the enemy's attacks struck the energy field, the Techmarine Beta ordered the men to throw the orbs at the device and the capacitor.

Back on the bridge, the Techmarine Alpha reported the change to Arthur.

"Void Shield strength rises, my lord. Energy reserves are now at 78% and rising. Impact dispersion has been increased to 96%," said the Techmarine with no emotions showing at all.

Arthur nodded in approval, and he had felt the vibrations lessen as the slaves threw more energy orbs at the Void Shield Generator, but it was not an absolute solution. If his vessel had faced greater firepower, then even such measures would only delay the inevitable.

"Techmarine Beta, reroute all reserve powers and energy-orbs to the engines. I wish to get behind those guns."

~Yes, my lord.~

Then, the ship shook violently as one of the battle station's Lance Batteries had a direct hit against the 'Zion' at an angle that caused maximum strain on the Void Shield.

"My lord, we have disabled four satellites and two Monitors," reported one of the Cultists. "Also, one of the space station's three Lance Batteries has been destroyed. The station has lost its Void Shields."

Arthur smiled behind his helmet.

"Excellent! All weapons fire at the satellites and at the weapons aboard the space station, and prepare the boarding torpedoes. Chaos Marine squads Alpha and Beta to the Boarding Torpedoes!" shouted Arthur, brimming with excitement of the anticipation for the battle.

"My lord, the Nightmare Cannons are ready to fire." Techmarine Alpha reported suddenly and much to the delight of Arthur.

"Ah! At last. Belay the Boarding Torpedoes. Techmarine Alpha, fire the Nightmare Cannons at the space station and those pathetic Defense Monitors." commanded the Chaos Lord.

"Yes, my lord."

During this most recent Warp jump, the outer hulls of the 'Zion of Despair' had become infested with Chaos daemons of various origins, but they were mostly devoured by the Nightmares, the daemon of Terror and Despair forged by Arthur's powers to be the Lesser Daemons of the Diablo. The whole fleet was not made up of ships whose exteriors are covered in gruesome displays or sacrificed slaves and myriads of tentacles, eyeballs, intestines, carapaces and exoskeletons. Indeed, the Nightmares were mostly Lovecraftian in their general forms, forgoing hardened claws and horns for tentacles and such, while keeping a certain uniformity, which differentiated the Nightmares of Diablo from the Horrors of Tzeentch.

In real space, the Nightmares of Diablo became dormant and became batteries of daemonic weapons. Nightmare Cannons were but one of such mutation of the ship. The metal of the armor plating became drawn in by the daemon and twisted into a large barrel partly made of the daemon's tentacles. Turning and swiveling with thick daemonic muscle fibers that seem to grow out of the ship itself, these cannons fired ball of Warp energy tainted with the Will of Fear. With ranges many times that of Lance Batteries, these daemonic shells explode into a black fog that reaches toward the enemy ships and melt into the enemy ships. Once inside, the daemonic fog would drive the crew insane and the Machine Spirit to develop into a homicidal Artificial Intelligence that spreads throughout the ship's systems like a virus.

"Target locked and tracking. Enemy point-defense has been reduced to less than 25%!"

"Fire!"

From a dozen points on the hull of the 'Zion', unbearably twisted and mutated machines turned. Their daemonic muscles flexing and the crusted surfaces of the cannons' barrels glowed in anticipation. With a burst of indigo flare, immense shells of daemonic energy covered in crustacean exoskeletons were launched at incredible speed, for its daemonic nature ignoring some of the laws of physics.

"Five of twelve have achieved direct hits, my lord," declared the Techmarine. "And one of the Lance Batteries has been shutdown along with at least a dozen lesser weapons."

"Good."

"An explosion has occurred aboard the station. It appears that a torpedo bay has been corrupted and it detonated the torpedo prematurely." reported the Techmarine.

Arthur roared in laughter.

"Do we have a visual?" He demanded.

"Yes, lord. I shall bring it up."

The hologram suddenly showed the burning image of the Mechanicus battle station, with one of the three Lance Batteries sheared off by an explosion, and another covered in something black, while the third was still firing, though it appeared to be somewhat damaged. Near the black-covered Lance Battery, a large chunk of the station was missing, torn out by the explosion of its own torpedo.

"My lord, it appears that one of the Monitors have been struck by the Nightmare Cannon. It is firing upon its allies." said the Techmarine, further pleasing Arthur.

"Yes, I can feel their confusion and fear. I can taste their shattered souls!"

On the holographic display, two of the Defense Monitors were seeing fleeing the scene, while another was in close combat against a Monitor affected by the Nightmare Cannon.

"My lord, we have disabled and destroyed four more satellites." said Techmarine Alpha. "And two more Monitors have been disabled but not destroyed. Remaining two Defense Monitors are fleeing. The victory is yours, lord."

"What of our losses?" asked Arthur.

"The Cobra-class 'Entropus Omega' has lost all power and is venting atmosphere. All hands lost except for those on the Bridge. The Tempest-class 'Tyrantii Absolutis' has lost half of its weapons batteries and nearly 30% of her crew. The 'Icon of Despise' has also suffered some damage, including nearly 40% of her crew and a large chunk of its decks." reported the Techmarine, but it did not dissuade Arthur in his moment of delight.

"Is the station still operational?"

"It is venting atmosphere, but there are still life signs aboard."

"How many?"

"Eighty-six… wait… eighty-one… Seventy-nine is the number, my lord. It is holding at seventy-nine."

"Its weapons?"

"Disabled, my lord. It has also lost all its Void Shields."

Arthur chuckled.

"Bring us closer and prepare the boarding parties."

"Yes, lord."

* * *

**END OF CHAPTER 15**


	16. Chapter 16

Well, I've written another chapter already! I hope you enjoy the boarding action!

* * *

**Chapter 16**

**Maelstrom Zone**

**Magog Cluster – Corcrya System**

**Corcrya XI – Imperial Listening Outpost**

**Mechanicus Orbital Defense Station**

Gunfire erupted through the darkened and broken corridors aboard the battle station of the Mechanicus. A Gun Servitor with Heavy Bolter for its right arm had squeezed off a volley of a dozen or so rounds at the general direction of the Terror Squad who hid behind the broken sections of the corridor's walls.

"Kill it!" growled the Sergeant, frustrated at the lack of advance because of one lousy Gun Servitor.

At his command, one of this team members with a MG3 machine gun peered around the corner and let loose some bullets. The MG3 was taken from the Leopard 2 Tanks. Leopard 2 Tanks had used MG3 as their secondary armament, but the Techmarines had replaced MG3 with Multilaser or pintle-mounted Bolter with belt-feed as to increase their effectiveness. Taken from the tanks, the MG3s and M240 from Strykers, were attached with some belt and given to Terror Teams of Sergeants, Lieutenants and Majors. Allowed up to two of such machine guns, the effectiveness of the killing power increased, as experimented on the slaves.

The copper-coated bullets raked the walls but failed to hit the target. Displeased, the Sergeant shouted at his fellow Cultists, and incensed by the fear of their leader, the Cultists of the Terrorkin stepped out from the cover and charged, their weapons firing at the Gun Servitor. The Gun Servitor returned fire immediately, killing four Cultists within moments before shots from lasguns, AK-103s and MG3s made a short work of the half-machine.

"See! Cowardice has no place here, boys. There is nothing for you but the chance of sacrificing your lives for Lord El Sokauron! Now, go!" shouted the Sergeant, his words filled with faith and conviction.

The Terror Squad charged through the corridor, and they were soon met by two more Servitors. One was a Gun Servitor with Plasma Gun and the other was a Combat Servitor with an electro-flail and a circular saw for its arms. These Servitors had surprised the Cultists, and a Corporal was cut down by the circular saw cutting through his throat. This death was quickly followed by another Cultist who was shot in the face by the Plasma Gun.

The Cultists responded without hesitation, firing their guns at the Gun Servitor while those with melee weapons assailed the Combat Servitor. A Corporal and a knife-armed Cultists rushed the Combat Servitor, evading another dull swing of the circular saw that glanced off the crude Flak Armor helmet of the Cultists. The Corporal struck the Servitor with his Wire, a vulgar and inferior copy of the Servitor's electro-flail. Electricity coursed through the Servitor, and the other Cultist plunged his combat knife into the Servitor's chest in the moment when the Servitor froze in shock.

Yet, a Servitor was not really human any longer. It was tougher and far more resilient through its cybernetic implants. Ignoring the damage and pain of electric shock and a knife thrust, the Servitor swung its electro-flail at the Cultist. The Corporal jumped out of the way, but the Cultist lost his face was the electricity fried the muscles of his face after the flail tore out his nose, teeth and eyes.

Even as the Cultist screamed, other Cultists appeared behind the Corporal. They fired lasguns at the Servitor, which stumbled back. Seeing the chance, the Corporal lunged forward and fired his laspistol into the Servitor's face and struck its head with the Wire. Yet, the Mechanicus would not fall so easily, even if it was just a measly Servitor.

The Servitor nearly stumbled over backward, but with its last strength, it twisted itself and fell forward, exposing the package on his back. Someone had rigged a set of three Frag Grenades to explode moments after the Servitor's vitals had ended.

The resulting exploding had wiped out one of the Terror Teams in the Sergeant's Terror Squad, and the collapsing corridor further removed three more Cultists. The Sergeant stomped his feet in frustration at the fact that there were only him and seven men remaining in his squad.

"Failures! You've failed to secure our way because of three SERVITORS!" He roared in impotent rage.

"Indeed, you are a failure, Sergeant." A powerful voice answered him.

Before the Sergeant could say anything, a bolter round drove its way into the Sergeant's skull and exploded, showering his seven men with bits of skull and brain. From behind them, Techmarine Beta walked out with two Chaos Marines.

* * *

The Techmarine generally looked like the Techmarine hero from Dawn of War 2, but he was a Chaos Techmarine and was desecrated and corrupted accordingly. He had a single Servo-arm on his back, but instead of normal Servo-arm, it had claws on its end and daemonic muscle fibers reinforcing the wires and cables. On his shoulder pauldrons were horrid images of Chaos things, and small black tentacles growing around his left arm from the cracks in his armor. He was armed with a desecrated bolter with a small row of rat skulls on its top, and there was a Power Axe hanging on his belt that was twisted by the Warp.

His two Chaos Marine brothers were no less corrupted than the Techmarine. One of them had a rack of skulls on small pikes 'growing' out of his backpack, and carried a bolter with serrated bayonette, and the left half of his helmet charred and twisted into the visage of a daemon with inky ooze dripping from the eye like black tears. The other Chaos Marine had three pairs of exhaust vents from his backpack, twirled around each other like snakes wrapped around each other. He carried a bolt pistol and a chainsword, but the teeth of the chainsword seemed to be constantly spitting out flakes of dried blood, and his right shoulder pauldron was covered with five wide-open eyes of constantly changing colors.

* * *

In the presence of their superior 'Terrorkind', the Terrorkin Cultists quickly bowed, so that their lives may not be squandered before the exhilaration of a battle. The Techmarine Beta was the leading figure among the three, and he surveyed the scene of the fight.

"Pathetic." growled the Beta as the broken pieces of precious weapons were scattered around his feet.

"Grab all of the weapon pieces and return to them to the ship. Your Sergeant has paid for his failures and incompetence with his life and soul." commanded Beta as he kicked the debris out of the way.

Then as the three Chaos Marines made their way through the debris-filled corridors where the impacts of the battle seemed obvious, they were suddenly beset by gunfire. Even as bullets bounced off their Power Armors with bright sparks, Beta pointed his bolter and fired a burst of four shots at the Servo-turret on the ceiling of a large circular triple-floored chamber that the Chaos Marines were entering. The bolter rounds exploded around the Servo-turret but it was only after the two other Chaos Marines joined in on the attack that the Servo-turret was taken out.

Brushing off several bullets that got stuck on his armor, Beta commented with a certain wariness.

"Beware, brothers. This is an Adeptus Mechanicus facility. Advanced technology and traps could be anywhere."

No sooner he had said this, a bolt of plasma stuck him in the chest, scorching a round mark that had melted through a little into the Power Armor.

"Ambush! Take cover!" shouted one of the Chaos Marines.

"No! There! There is the enemy!" roared Beta as he ignored the next volley of plasma that singed the edges of his right shoulder pauldron.

Instead of taking cover, the Chaos Techmarine raised his desecrated bolter at the enemies on the second floor. Three Skitarii Classiarii were hiding behind several stacked crates. One of them was armed with an implanted bolter with belt-feed and a three-fingered cybernetic arm, while another was armed with a Power Fist and a twin-linked Heavy Stubber. The third was the one who attacked Beta, and it was armed with an implanted Plasma Gun and a Chainsword in his cybernetic hand. From behind the safety of the crates and using the advantages of elevation, the three Skitarii warriors fired off their weapons at the Chaos Marines.

Yet, they had underestimated the power of these corrupted super-warriors. Beta's helmet powered up and focused on the three Skitarii and he raised his bolter, disregarding the bolter rounds and bullets striking him.

"_High Powered Shot_." whispered Beta as he squeezed the trigger.

Strange power enveloped the Techmarine's bolter and he fired a single charged bolter round filled with powers of the Warp refined through Arthur's amulet. The bolter struck the target with awesome accuracy, and it struck the Classiarii with the Plasma Gun. It pierced the thick armor of the Skitarii and exploded with a power akin to a grenade.

While their suppressed emotion did not allow the other two Skitarii to be shocked about the explosion that just happened in their comrade's chest, they were surprised by the power of that single bolter shot.

"Now!" The Techmarine shouted and the Chaos Marines armed with the bolter came out of the cover and aimed at the Skitarii and used the ability programmed into him by Arthur.

"_Full Auto_!" whispered the Chaos Marine, and squeezed the trigger.

Rather than just having bolter rounds spewing out on full auto mod of his bolter, the whispering of the ability caused something. The bolter glowed in low light and the bolter rounds fired from the weapon also glowed in power. Though it was mere seconds of fire, the bolter rounds exploded all around the crates that protected the Skitarii and knocked them back, as if the bolter rounds carried more kinetic energy than they should.

In that few precious seconds, the Chaos Marine with bolt pistol on his belt and chainsword in his hand had leaped out from his own cover and jumped on to a mount of debris and grabbed on to the railings of the second floor. Even as the Skitarii attempted to recompose their advantage, the Chaos Marine sprang up and landed on the edge of the second floor.

"Die Chaos scum!" shouted the Skitarii with heavy stubber as it fired the guns at the Chaos Marine who lunged at the half-machine warriors of the Mechanicus.

Before the Skitarii could react, the chainsword of the Chaos Marine bit into the warrior's shoulder, severing off the arm with heavy stubber. Beta and the other Chaos Marine quickly fired their bolters at the other Skitarii as it moved to help its comrade. Aided by the Techmarine's support, the Chaos Marine's chainsword continued to slice into the Skitarii while the Chaos Marine's incredible martial skills evading the Power Fist with relative ease.

"Foolish machine," The Chaos Marine sneered as he drove his chainsword into the neck of the Skitarii. "you really thought to best me in melee? Ha!"

Without losing a moment, the Chaos Marine engaged the last Skitarii, and without a melee weapon, the Skitarii was no match for the Chaos Marine, even if he was summoned up by the will of El Sokauron.

Once the chamber was clear, Beta went to the center of the room, escorted by his two Chaos Marines. He brought out a package from his back and placed it on the floor, and his servo-arm went to work. Even as they held their ground there, two Terror Squads entered the chamber. They were led by the Apothecary Scipio, the name given to him by their master.

"Apothecary Scipio."

"Brothers, is everything ready?" asked the Apothecary, arrogance full in his voice as his position had been elevated over other summoned Chaos Marines, perhaps even to the level of the mighty Chaos Terminators and the valuable Techmarines.

"The Teleporter Relay Beacon shall be ready within minutes. While you wait, why don't you secure the chamber and man the second and third floor? They could be great vantage points." said Beta, whose position among the Terrorkind had been vital.

"I shall do so, brother." Scipio agreed quickly, since there was no real competition or hostilities between the summoned Chaos Marines.

Then someone voxed in.

~My lords, this is Terror Squad Beta Secondus. We have encountered heavy resistance. We have lost Terror Squad Beta Primus, Tertius and half of Quintus.~

"Hm? These pathetic Cultists cannot do anything properly" muttered the Apothecary with much disdain for the Terrorkin. "and thus we are forced to coddle them yet again."

"Save your complaints for later, Scipio. Go aid the Cultists so that the station is in our hands when our Lord arrives." rebuked Beta.

"Very well, brother." nodded Scipio before turning to the Cultists.

"Follow me, you worthless dogs. To battle and to your glorious deaths."

* * *

The large wide-open hanger bay was a battlefield indeed. The hanger doors had been locked and jammed by the collapse of surrounding structures, and other entrances had been blocked, leaving the only path to the station's Command Hub to be defended by the Skitarii. While the Skitarii had prepared various covers and defensible positions using the debris, the Cultists were being mowed down by the heavy weapons.

Of the whole Terror Company Beta dispatched to this section of the station, less than three Terror Squads had remained alive. There were twenty in Secondus, twenty two in Quatros and twelve in Quintus remaining from the total of 125 men. The squad Primus, where the Lieutenant and his Terror Team led the squad, had been obliterated by the first devastating volley of heavy weapons fire from the Skitarii.

The two-floored hanger bay was originally held by nine elite Classiarii, nineteen lasgun-armed Hypaspists, three Sagitarii with dedicated heavy weapons, six Gun Servitors and five Combat Servitors. Against this handful of less than fifty individuals, the Terror Company Beta had lost seventy-one men, and only managed to kill eight Skitarii and three Servitors.

This kind of failure did not come from the weakness of weapons or the strength of will, but from the stupidity of field commanders. The lieutenant of the Terror Company Beta had foolishly walked into the ambush during his moment of arrogance after killing a dozen Servitors who had initially blocked their approach. His arrogance ended quickly when the Sagitarii fired a Plasma Cannon right into this stomach. His end was short and vaporous, while his Terror Team of warrior with sergeant-level armaments were quickly ended by the barrages of heavy bolter fire and autocannons and lascannons and grenades.

It was into this that Chaos Apothecary Scipio entered with two Terror Squads. Immediately, his superior Astartes mind went to work.

"Machine gunners, suppressive fires over the targets I designate. There, over on the upper floor where the enemies are sitting behind the large wall fragment. Over there next to the destroyed Maurauder Bomber. Fire!" commanded the Apothecary.

The four machine gunners from two Terror Squads turned their MG3 and M240 machine guns at the two enemy positions while the rest of the squads also fired their weapons at the Skitarii. Although the guns were not really that useful or effective at such range, the luck was on the side of the Chaos. A Gun Servitor and a Hypaspist on the second floor were struck in the heads with bullets, and a Hypaspist behind the wreckage of the Marauder Bomber was wounded. In that moment, Scipio threw his 'Vial of Horrors' at the Mechanicus defenders next to the destroyed Marauder Bomber.

The range was long and the grenade ticked on while it was flying, leaving only a short time before the grenade exploded. The explosion did not happen. There was only a small sound of crystal shattering, but the effect was immediate. The surrounding area of was quickly filled with a fog of dark blue shade. Then from the fog came out tentacles of mist, darker in shade of blue almost to the level of indigo. Those tentacles wrapped themselves around the heads of the defenders and disappeared into them. Then the screams started. The Servitors were clearly unaffected by the grenade but Hypaspists and Classiarii began to moan and scream in abject terror, despite the psychosurgery they went through to suppress emotions.

"Hm... these Culitists are not dead yet." muttered Scipio as he strolled across the battlefield even as the defenders began to return fire notwithstanding the heavy suppression laid down by the Cultists.

Scipio was correct in his assessment. Most of the Beta Primus Squad was dead, but there were others who were merely wounded. They were alive but barely. Had he been any normal Apothecary, he would have given them death, but he was of El Sokauron, whose sorcerer's powers have given abilities beyond the rules and laws of reality.

"_Heal_."

Suddenly, eighteen of the gravely wounded Cultists found their wounds sealed and bullets repulsed from their flesh. Though the armor remained broken and shattered, the flesh had been mended, and they could walk again. Some of those with mortal wounds became gravely wounded, but still unable to move. However, eighteen of them were able to fight again.

"Stand up, filth! I have given you new life in the name of our Dark Master. Fight! Fight and die again!" shouted the Apothecary, raising his Plasma Pistol and firing accurate volleys against the Skitarii.

Noticing the effect of Scipio's leadership, one of the Sagitarii warriors turned its Heavy Bolter at the Chaos Apothecary.

"Argh! You dare?" roared Scipio as he was struck with a dozen rounds.

He remained mostly unharmed and standing, but the suppressive power of a Heavy Bolter was too much even for the Chaos Marine. Even as he bent low and slowly moved toward a cover, a new help had arrived for the Chaos forces.

"They can never resist our unholy advances!" roared the leader of the Chaos Terminator squad.

"You will all suffer our wrath!" shouted another, voice distorted through the helmet.

"We cannot be stopped by such rabble!" declared yet another.

"Terminators! Cowards hiding behind thick armors and taking all the glory and honor of the battle by appearing at the last moments." Scipio muttered bitterly, but even as his spoke so, there was something odd about it all as if he was just 'acting' out the line.

The appearance of five Chaos Terminators was so sudden and so powerful that the Skitarii quickly turned all their guns against the mighty and ancient Chaos warriors. Yet, not even the heavy weapons of the Mechanicus' finest could cow the Terminators.

They scorned the heavy bolter rounds and plasma balls and lascannon fire that rained around them, and merely charged toward the Skitarii, their own deleterius weapons returning death to the defenders.

* * *

The leader of the Chaos Terminators wore a pair of Chaos Lighting Claws with a wrist-mounted Storm Bolter on his left hand. He was a mighty character with the helmet of same design as that of Araghast the Pillager on Dawn of War 2. This Chaos Terminator was extensively defended by an Iron Halo, extra armor plating around the chest and accursed shoulder pauldrons crackling with Warp energy.

Led by such character, other Chaos Terminators were not the lesser. One Terminator was armed with a Reaper Autocannon, which is a twin-linked version used by the Chaos. He was also armed with Chainfist that constantly burned with sorcerous flames. Another was fitted with a Power Fist and a Storm Bolter with bayonet, as well as a Cyclone Missile Launcher. The forth Chaos Terminator was armed with a heavily corrupted Power Axe whose blade writhed with dark tentacles that spat out small bursts of lightning. He was also the owner of a twin-linked Plasma Gun with daemonic flesh melding the Plasma Guns together. The last Chaos Terminator came with a Power Sword and a Melta Gun, but he was also fitted with an Iron Halo like the squad's leader and five poles with a skull of charred iron stuck on each the poles that buzzed with powerful sorcerous energy.

* * *

**END OF CHAPTER 16**


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17 involved in how Arthur gains another stronghold in the Magog Cluster.

Enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter 17**

**Maelstrom Zone**

**Magog Cluster – Corcrya System**

**Corcrya XI – Imperial Listening Outpost**

**Mechanicus Orbital Defense Station**

The Terminators charged, their Reaper Autocannon, twin-linked Plasma Gun, Cyclonic Missile Launcher laying down devastating cover-fire. Their bulk crushed through the Skitarii, and within moments, the Skitarii were broken and a handful of survivors fled through the blast door to the corridor leading up to the Command Hub. The door locked behind them, and thick blast armor covered the door.

"Breach the door!" shouted the Terminator leader, and the Reaper Autocannons and the Cyclonic Missile launchers were brought to bear.

Despite the explosions and sparks, the blast door was still holding against the mighty weapons of the Chaos Terminators.

"Blasted thing! I shall not fail Lord El Sokauron on the account of a door!" roared the Terminator leader as he personally struck the door with his Lightning Claws, trying to pry open the door.

"Stand aside, you prideful failures!" said Arthur, and surprised by the appearance of his master, the Terminator backed down.

"You were suppose to cut off their retreat, and yet you are here banging on the door that should not have closed." growled Arthur, further scolding the Terminator.

"My lord... I did not know you were coming aboard." muttered the Terminator.

"Grrr... I should have created you with less personality. Perhaps I can still delete your mind and turn you into like your fellow Terminators," Arthur threatened the Terminator leader, "may be, with minimum personality, you may improve in performance."

Arthur looked around at the scene of the battle and scoffed.

"A Marauder Bomber on a space station? What idiot would have put an atmospheric aircraft here in space?" sneered the Chaos Lord.

He turned to look at the locked door.

"With firepower we have here on our persons, this door would take too long to breach, but the power of the Warp can be a useful thing here." mused Arthur as he focused his mind.

Crackling nimbus of indigo aura formed around the Chaos Sorcerer Lord and then it focused into a tiny ball of dark flames. Arthur then flicked the tiny ball of fire at the blast door.

There was no sound or fire or explosion. The door just melted. In fact, the whole chunk of the corridor and debris had melted through as if someone had pointed a dozen Multi-Melta and fired at the door.

"Now, let us take the Command Hub."

"Yes, lord."

* * *

**Corcrya XI – Imperial Listening Outpost**

**Mechanicus Outpost Facility**

Within minutes, the battle station had fallen into the hands of the Terrorkind and their brutal assaults. Of course, the Terrorkin had helped but none of the Chaos Marines involved in the assault thought the efforts of the Terrorkin to matter much. After all, they had lost so many lives against such pitiful defenders who were crushed in a combined Chaos Marines assaults.

The capture of the half-broken battle station had allowed Arthur's forces to ransack the plethora of war supplies that had been sorely lacking. At least one of the armories had survived the attack, and they contained just over a hundred lasguns, a dozen or so bolters and plenty of bolter and heavy bolter rounds. The fallen defenders also left many heavy weapons behind including a half-dozen Heavy Bolters and Lascannons that the Chaos Techmarines could salvage and repair into full function.

However, the battle for Corcrya XI was not over.

Unwilling to land his fleet upon a world where the freezing temperature would cause malfunction among the advanced but weak vehicles of 21st Century Earth, Arthur commanded his Techmarines to search for an answer from the battle station itself. Moving one of the Cobra-class closer to the planet had resulted in anti-orbital fire from the surface, and there were at least fifteen separate anti-orbital gun towers on the surface, scattered around the mountains where they were well protected from the orbital bombardment.

Unable to destroy the outlying guns from the orbit, and quite reluctant to bring his precious ships into the firing range of the defensive guns of the primary Mechanicus facility, Arthur had paused in his assault of the planet, hoping to find another way in.

It was his suspicion that had brought him result. Upon glancing at the battle station and the planet, he had realized that the battle station had docking ports designed to work as a starport, and then upon scanning the planet, he had discovered that there was no starport on the surface of the planet itself. He quickly ordered Techmarine Beta to search for a Teleportarium facility within the depths of the battle station's structure, and he was not disappointed.

There was indeed a powerful Teleportarium device below the Command Hub and that's how the Mechanius personnel had been moving between the battle station and the planet. While the teleportation was impossible with the Void Shield still online on the Mechanicus facility on the surface of the planet, if given enough energy, the station's Teleportarium could possibly override its partner's block.

Arthur immediately ordered Lance strikes against the Mechanicus facility, but taking care to strike the outer edges of the Void Shield. He had no intention of obliterating the facility. He wanted to capture it whole. Combined might of the small Chaos fleet and the captured guns of the battle station soon weathered down the Void Shield, and it wasn't too hard once Arthur conjured up a powerful blizzard using his immense psychic power. While Arthur just hoped to freeze the facility into submission, the automated wall-heating to protect the facility from freezing had drawn in too much energy from the generators, weakening the Void Shield. It was a dumb luck, but it still forced the Void Shield to flicker and give out.

Once the Void Shield was gone, Arthur teleported in a whole Terror Company to secure the receiving end before sending down his Terminators. Suddenly faced with five Chaos Terminators and over a hundred Chaos Cultists armed with strong autoguns, a.k.a AK-103 with steel-core and tungsten tip bullets, the defending forces of the Mechanicus quickly fell. With the Cultists of the Terrorkin had secured the teleport beacon and the Terminators pushing the defenders back, the rest of Arthur's Terrorkind entered the fray. Finally, Arthur himself had appeared within the facility as the Chaos Sorcerer Lord El Sokauron the Diablo.

While Terrorhost Primus and Secondus led Arthur's two squads of Chaos Marines against the defenders, Arthur strolled through the facility with his Chaos Chosen, Apothecary Scipio and the two Techmarines Alpha and Beta. Techmarines quickly accessed the systems of the facility to determine what loot that they could take from this Mechanicus facility, while the Apothecary Scipio investigated the organic composition of the fallen Servitors.

The Techpriests attempted to resist as much as they could, and the numerous Servitors they owned had stymied the assault. Still, the surprise of having large number of enemies suddenly popping out of nowhere right beneath the noises had forced the Mechanicus defenders to scatter into various armored chambers across the facility.

Eventually, the only remaining section of the facility was the Primary Communication Hub, the core of the facility where the Logis and five of his Enginseers were holding out with the help of the few remaining Skitarii and Servitors. Even as the Chaos Terminators assailed the thick armored blast doors protected with refractor field, the defenses held, and frustrated by their failures, the Chaos Terminators began to pound the walls. While the walls were thick with ceramite and plasteel plates, they were shielded by refractor field.

Little by little, the weapons of the Chaos Terminators began to tear through the thick walls, and the defenders prepared to sell their lives at high price. Then suddenly, the poundings stopped.

* * *

"Again, you display a remarkable lack of leadership. I think I will just remove your mind and rebuild you as a Servitor" growled Arthur at the Terminator leader, who was genuinely afraid now, "and to think that I have given you a mind, a personality and a sentience. Mea culpa, and I shall rectify it. Now, stand aside."

The Terminators backed down. Even if the Terminator leader had some grudge against Arthur, he was ultimately mere fiction built by the mind and will of Arthur, and there was no resistance or defiance against the 'creator'.

Arthur surveyed the wall that this Chaos Terminators were hacking away at. It was a remarkably short-sighted and dumb way of punching through a wall.

"Idiots... You are idiots to waste the very fact that you are wearing Terminator Armors," muttered the Chaos Lord as he backed away a little from the wall.

There was a sudden humming sound. It came from the powerful Terminator Armor of the Chaos Lord himself, and it seemed to glow in an indigo light, and it pulsed and tiny arcs of lightning spasmed across the armor.

With a sudden massive thrust of his legs, Arthur charged into the wall trusting his armor and mass to crush through the thinned wall. Indeed, the section of the wall exploded inward, showering the defenders with debris that flew at them at alarming velocity and speed.

Through the dust and smoke, the Chaos Lord immediately engaged himself in the conflict.

"Die or surrender! I shall be merciful today," chuckled Arthur as he slashed a Combat Servitor into two halves while simultaneously spraying death with his storm bolter at a small group of enemies on his left.

Bolter rounds and lasgun shots exploded all around Arthur and some of it struck his helmet and armor, but he paid no heed to them. His armor was not something forged by the hands of man or machine. It was conjured up by the will and Warp, and materialized into reality. It was defined not by the plates of ceramite and plasteel but by the design that Arthur had programmed into his computer.

It was only when a bolt of plasma struck his helmet with great accuracy that Arthur paused from skewering a Hypaspist with 'Fang of Tribulation' and looked up at the enemy. It was a Techpriest, the Logis in charge of the facility. He was wearing a set of six Mechandendrites, each with weapons set upon them. A bolter, a plasma gun, two circular saws, a vise with sharp teeth and a drill were on the Mechandendrites while the Logis himself carried the cog-like power axe with the Mechanicus sigil upon it.

"So, you are in charge of this place?" asked Arthur, chuckling darkly at the Techpriest who dared to resist him.

"Affirmative, scum of Chaos," replied the Logis, his grip on the power axe tightening.

"Then I may have a use for you yet!"

As Arthur took a step toward the Logis, he was quickly confronted by the last remaining group of defenders. Three Enginseers, six Lexmechanics, four Huscarls of the Skitarii blocked his path and three Combat Servitors beset him with their weapons.

"You think that I will just kill you? That would be too easy," sneered Arthur as he bore the chainsword attack by a Combat Servitor and retaliating by cutting off its head, "and I have further uses for you."

The bayonet of his 'Fear of All' storm bolter punched through the chest of another Servitor while the third Servitor swung its electro-flail and struck Arthur's left shoulder with little effect.

Once finished with their own foes, the Chaos Chosen rushed to aid their master, only to stopped by Arthur's words.

"Stop! I shall deal with these myself. They deserve more than death."

Then, after a loud chuckle, Arthur roared at the Techpriests, and from right in front of the helmet poured out dark indigo cloud. Like a fog of industrial fumes, the dark cloud swallowed up the Techpriests for a moment before disappearing into every orifices in their body. Almost instantly, all the Lexmechanics and one Huscarl fell to the ground with their hands on their head, screaming and contorting in pain.

The Enginseers and the remaining Huscarls moaned in paid and wavered but they resisted. As for Logis, he would have cringed except that his face had been that of a machine for many decades.

"Intriguing... Your predilection of attaching machines into your body and brain had spared you this fate," chuckled Arthur as he surveyed those who fell in pain, "but you would soon envy them."

The three Huscarls that remained standing quickly regained their composure and jumped at Arthur with their power axes. Whoever designed them had either by accident or by intention, made them to resemble the real Huskarls of Earth to some degree. Their axes looked like a larger version of Viking Axes, while their chest armor had metal scales on them. Of course, their arms and legs were fully mechanical and much more advanced than the crude versions that remained within the memories of Kha'lath and Varhir.

Thick cords of artificial muscles flexed within the metal frames of the Huscarls' arms and one of their power axes struck Arthur on the shoulder. The Skitarii had hoped to pierce the joint between the torso and the shoulder, but Arthur saw the danger in that and turned slightly to block the strike with the shoulder pauldron. The power axe was strong, and it caused a tiny chink in the armor of merely a couple of millimeters. Arthur did not like that and he showed his displeasure by tearing apart all three Huscarls within moments.

Even as Arthur shredded the Huscarls with his power sword that simply cut through the thick armors of the Skitarii, the Enginseers attempted to join the fray, only to be pushed back when the Chaos Chosen fired warning shots. Once done with the Huscarls, Arthur turned to the Enginseers, and he focused his psychic powers. The reason that he had entered the battle himself was to preserve the Techpriests so that he may enslave them rather than let them be killed by his warriors.

Three cracklings arcs of black lightning struck the Enginseers in their heads, while Arthur engaged the Logis. The Mechandendrites flailed around firing their weapons or slashing at Arthur, but Arthur blocked them all with a quiet resolve. His target was to kill the Logis, and with a sharp swipe with his sword, he cut but bolter of the Techpriest in half while blocking another shot of plasma with a swing of the powered bayonet of his storm bolter. Then, even as the two circular saws caused great amount of sparks against his helmet, Arthur drove his power sword into the chest of the Logis and twisted it.

There was no gurgling sound or swearing from the Techpriest. Like a machine, he turned off. His Mechandendrites stopped and fell, their master's life ending with theirs. Brushing off the frozen Mechadendrites, Arthur stood over the lifeless body of the senior Techpriest.

"It had fought well for the likes of its ilk. Tear his body apart and corrupt everything so that this body can be recycled in my name."

"Yes, master."

Then he looked at the Enginseers and Lexmechanics still writhing on the floor.

"Put these in the brig of the 'Zion'." ordered Arthur as he turned his gaze toward the Chosen. "When they wake again as the servants of the Dark Gods of Chaos, we shall make good use of them."

"As you command, my lord."

* * *

Arthur had no intention of simply leaving the Mechanicus facility after exerting so much effort to capture it. After all, it was an 'Adeptus Mechanicus' facility, and it had much loot to be ransacked as well as its function as the Imperium's eyes and ears against the Maelstrom would have a great value to Arthur.

He summoned a cadre of Cultists and to him.

"All hail the Bringer of Terror! All bow to the Bleak Despair!" chanted the Cultists when they arrived before Arthur's presence. "You have summoned us, my lord El Sokauron?"

Arthur almost smiled at their fear.

"Yes, I have. I have a mission for you. It is a mission that would not so greatly tax your limited capacity."

"Command us, lord!"

Arthur nodded and Techmarine Alpha handed a paper to each of the leaders of the Cultist groups.

"This is a diagram of a sorcerous pentagram to be drawn with fresh blood. You will paint these on each of the four walls on each floor of this building." Arthur instructed. "Sacrifice one of the slaves for each pentagram, and after finishing the drawing, let the dead slave lie in the pool of its own blood."

At the command of actions so foul and cruel, the Cultists were delighted.

"Do not kill them easily. Let them scream in pain and fear. When you are done, report to the Techmarine here." he pointed to Alpha. "He shall be residing on the top floor of this structure."

"Your will shall be done, my lord."

It took hours but it was done without problem. While the Chaos Marines and Techmarine Beta searched the network of underground caves that led to numerous supply deposites, bunkers and the anti-orbital guns in the outlying areas, Arthur and the Chosen were on the wide roof of the structure. Arthur personally drew a more sophisticated pentragram with many evil runes and spells written in dark languages of the Chaos. The Chosen stood just beyond the five points of the pentagram, each holding a slaves whose throat has been cut and bleeding into a bucket set upon a small fire that kept the blood from clotting and hardening in the cold weather.

Once the power sword had finished digging deep into the ferrocrete-built roof, he looked at the Chosen and made a gesture. The Chosen flung the dead slaves over the roof and brought the warm blood and placed them on the points of the pentagram where a circle had been drawn to fit the buckets. When the buckets touched the circle, the buckets were suddenly engulfed in indigo fire that began to boil the blood.

"Get me fresh slaves. Five would do." commanded Arthur just as Techmarine Alpha came up the stairs. "Well?"

"It is done, my lord." reported the Chaos Techmarine.

"Good. Now remove this gauntlet."

The Techmarine came to Arthur and carefully removed the gauntlet and the vambrace that covered the lower arm. Arthur lifted his arm over the centre of the pentagram where a small dent has been made.

"Remove yourself from the Pentagram." commanded Arthur with grim and sincere voice.

The Techmarine wordlessly removed himself from the pentagram and locked the door to the stairs. Nobody was coming to the roof, and he was making sure of it.

Arthur closed his eyes and began to chant a long spell, speaking in guttural and evil language known only to the Sorcerers of Chaos. Warp began to twist and turn around Arthur as his psychic gifts began to fill the words that he spoke. Even as the Warp churned around him, they began to change. Instead of the bright swirling energy, they became infected by the black and indigo muck, stirring and roiling even more violently under the surface but seemingly calm on the outside, not that there was inside and outside when it came to the Warp.

Suddenly, the chanting stopped and Arthur raised his power sword to make a cut across his left arm. Blood spurted out and dropped into the hole in the middle of the pentagram. His blood seemed strangely thick, and hints of black ichor could be seem in that slowly dripping blood. When the small hole was filled, Arthur muttered another word and the wound closed up as if nothing had happened.

"NOW!"

The Chosen, who had brought a new living slaves back to their position quickly reached forth with their knives and cut the throat of the slave, and poured the steaming fresh blood into the circle around the pentagram that had been deeply dug into the ferrocrete roof. The bright red blood began to fill the outer circle, inner circle, then the runes and spells, and then the pentagram, and eventually they reached the small hole in the middle where Arthur's blood had formed a small jelly-like blob of swirling red and indigo.

When the blood of the slaves touched the Chaos Lord's blood, they instantly turned black and the color began to seep into the ferrocrete all around the drawing. Inside the building, each and every one of the pentagrams flared up in black flames that began to char the surroundings and swallowed up unwitting Cultists and slaves that were trapped within the building.

For hours, the black fire burned, and when the flames finally died down, the whole of the Mechanicus structure, save for the underground tunnels, was corrupted beyond recognition. The stones and ferrocrete and concrete that once made up the structures turned and changed into monstrous things. Some sprouted tree-like things full of thorns that bristled with malice, others had eyes or mouths or tiny tentacles that squirmed. The merlon around the roof became literal teeth, some made of bones and others of charred iron, and the some sprouted eyes balls hanging on thick strands of fiber.

Inside the structure, it was hell. In simple terms, they looked like something from H. 's works but with a hint of more color than black. There was indigo as well as black. Great tubes that appeared out of nowhere and ended nowhere had formed the majority of the walls, while on the walls were thousands of babies with large heads were crying and screaming with the sounds of tortured souls. Strange mix of iron and technology formed shapes of lustful women, but their faces so distorted and filled with hopelessness that brought tears in the eyes of those who witnessed them. Although there weren't as many phallic symbols as that of Giger, the decorations of the Mechanicus facility had changed so greatly that none would recognize it.

With his work done, Arthur returned to the 'Zion of Despair', caring not for the Cultists and slaves sacrificed during the ritual. He then stationed a Terror Brigade, and a newly summoned Apothecary he named Gigerus, in homage of the artist whose drawings had inspired the corruption Arthur had just wrought.

* * *

**END OF CHAPTER 17**


	18. Chapter 18

I have included the list of Chaos units and conquered planets Arthur controls at this point.

Enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter 18**

**Maelstrom Zone**

**Magog Cluster – Lamptan System**

**Lamptan V / VI – Feral Worlds**

**3 months since the fall of Corcrya XI**

Freed from the Imperial watch over the Maeltrom, next targets of Arthur's conquest were the two Feral Worlds in the Lamptan System.

Lamptain VI was the first to be hit. The planet's pitiful population quickly bowed to the will of Chaos once the fortress palace in the high mountains exploded from intense orbital bombardment. Unhappy with the thuggery of the Planetary Governor's enforcers, the local barbarian villages rose up against the revolver-wielding thugs. With the massive ships floating above them and Chaos Cultists landing with Leopard 2 tanks and Strykers rolling across the hills and plains, the barbarians submitted to Arthur's power.

There were some who resisted, but they were quickly put to horrible death to make examples of them. Then, the Cultists began to set up alters and shrines to Chaos, particularly to Arthur's future incarnation, Diablo the Lord of Terror, and his daemonic visage, the Morghastur. Fearing the warriors riding on roaring metallic beasts (a.k.a tanks), the barbarian villages quickly fell one by one, and such encroachment of territory continued beyond those who lived beneath the mountains.

Entire barbarian clans were soon brought into the fold, and many turned to the worship of Diablo, and only those who worshiped the dark god of Fear and Despair would not have nightmares. A plague of terrible and gruesome nightmares spread like wildfire, and they became even more intense as more worshipers preyed to their new god. Villages were soon filled with those who worshiped Diablo as all the non-believers were either driven mad by their nightmares or driven out by their Chaos-worshiping neighbors.

It took less than a fortnight to completely convert the planet of barbarians. Indeed, the population was relatively small on this world, but it had not been so easy due to the scattered nature of their dwellings. The persistence and advanced technology solved the logistics, and perhaps more so as Arthur instructed the barbarians unite under his banner. All former grudges between clans and tribes were cast aside, and they worked together to build roads, walled towns and numerous Chaos shrines.

Using the united tribes of Lamptan VI's population, Arthur began to construct a dozen mighty castles and fortresses in the immense mountains of the planet's main continent. The villages were once mere collection of hovels surrounded by crude wooden palisades, but under Arthur's rule their houses were rebuilt with baked bricks and concrete. The palisades were removed, the village expanded and new walls of bricks, cement and stones were built with parapets, and five towers to watch over the surrounding.

The barbarians were taught the low Gothic language so that they could communicate better with Arthur's Cultists, while being worked as farmers and miners and loggers in large groups. Entire forests were cut down, aided by advanced tools, including the chainswords distributed among the Cultists. Stones were dug out from the hills and mountains, pulled out by the strength of tanks. Massive farmlands were formed, and people formed new villages, or Communes, as Arthur named them.

Using the logs and stones collected by the Communes, they built castle-towns where Arthur placed a Terror Company to manage over the barbarian villages. Each castle-town had a small stone & concrete keep barely big enough to fit a Terror Company of 125 men, and a courtyard where separate structures for armory, kitchen, supply depot and such were built. While the keep was small, the courtyards were big enough to not only fit a Terror Company, but at least another two Terror Companies to assemble. However, due to the lack of manpower, or at least Arthur's unwillingness to part from so many Cultists yet, had meant that only a single Terror Team, that of the lieutenant in command of the Terror Company, would reside in the keep. The keep and the courtyard were built upon a low artificial hill made up of concrete and rocks that rose to about 2 meters, and the small gatehouse was accessed via a wooden rampart that could be collapsed easily.

Rest of the castle-town were littered with small cul-de-sacs of five houses located around a shrine to Diablo. There were twenty-five of such cul-de-sacs in each castle-town and no more, as Arthur did not wish for his Cultists to mingle too much with the population lest their presence become a part of their life rather than that of a fearsome oppressor. While the low population had meant that most of the cul-de-sacs were populated by people supplanted from their original villages, it was often the case that nearly half of the houses in a castle-town to be empty. Around the castle-town was a low wall with parapet five tall towers and a gatehouse to defend against Imperial retaliation or barbarian uprisings. Arthur planned to use these castle-towns to control the barbarians even if he only had a handful of Cultists stationed on the planet. So, he divided the planet into a format that he preferred.

After Arthur was done with the plans, it was divided into twenty-five Regions. Each Region was ruled by a lieutenant of a Terror Company from the castle-town, and each Region was divided into twenty-five Provinces including the one with the castle-town. Every other Province had a watchtower manned by a single Terror Team. In a single Province were ten walled-villages and three or so Communes. All the other villages that did not fit Arthur's design were pulled down and torched, and then turned into farmland. Those who resisted were enslaved and put to work, or sacrificed by Arthur's hands.

While each of these castle-towns were the focus of Arthur's rule on the planet, the dozen or so fortresses and castles in the mountains were massive in their size and mighty in their defenses, they were not for the Cultists or the barbarians. They were to be used as a means to defend the planet against the Imperial retaliation. In fact, Arthur designed all but two of these twelve fortresses and castles to be hidden within the mountains, disguised as the part of the mountains themselves. As for the two of the visible fortresses, they were the two lynchpins of his rule over this primitive world. One sat on the ruins of the Planetary Governor's Palace, while the other would sit at the base of the said mountain. In each of these two castles were a Terror Brigade, and they were heavily defended with weapons looted from the vast underground tunnels of Corcrya XI.

During the months of construction after the initial invasion, Arthur had spent some time relishing the sacrifices. He constructed another 'Arena of Misery', the name he had given to the arena back on Rook III. It was fortunate that the Planetary Governor had been rather lax in his duties, as the population of this Feral World had exploded beyond that of an ordinary Feral World. Once organized and the dead calculated, Arthur estimated that the planet held just over 9.5 million humans living scattered over a very large area. Of course, the number was reduced by nearly 2.4 million due to the executions, forced labors, enslavement, and Arthur's slaughters. Arthur had personally slaughtered over seven hundred fifty thousand humans to sate the hunger of his amulet so that he could increase the population limit of the summoned units.

Once he managed to gather enough souls to feed the amulet, he used the population cheat so that he could summon forth more Chaos Marines. Using the additional 150 population limit, Arthur called forth two more Chaos Marine Squad with an Aspiring Champion. After giving the Aspiring Champion the name of Malak, referring to the Darth Malak of Sith, he stationed Malak and his squad to rule Lamptan VI so that Arthur would be free to move on to Lamptan V. Arthur gave this name for no other reason than it sounded evil and it was from an evil Sith Lord, whose name was dredged from the depth of Arthur's mind. As a jest, Arthur gave the Aspiring Champion of the other new Chaos Marine Squad the name of Revan, and thought to place Revan and his squad to be in charge of Lamptain V.

* * *

**5 months since the fall of Lamptan VI**

Even as the constructions across Lamptan VI continued, Arthur departed the outer Feral World once he had summoned the two Chaos Marine squads and enough population limit to summon another. Of course, the Techmarines attached to these 'Destroyer 40K mod' CSM squads were given names Gamma and Delta, and kept aboard the ships. Although this had left Malak with only eight Chaos Marines in his squad, Arthur thought that eight Chaos Marines and an Aspiring Champion could readily deal with any barbarian uprising if it happened.

The loss of Cultists on Lamptan VI because of the need to man the planet with Arthur's own forces had been recompensed by the fresh recruits from the tempestuous youths of Lamptan VI. After only about a month since the completion of the conquest, Arthur drafted a lot of barbarian youths to his Cult. Of the five hundred thousand loaded onto Arthur's ships on the first day of training, less than sixty seven thousand had survived the ordeal and remained sane. Those who went insane were fed to the rumbling puerile daemons of Diablo that infested the 'Zion of Despair' while the survivors were returned to the planet and forced through a rigorous training. Given the incompetence of the Cultists seen aboard the Mechanicus battle station, Arthur ordered his Chaos Marines to let only the top 20% to survive and kill all the failures.

Four months of extreme training, and the constant psycho conditioning carried out by Arthur's sorcerous powers during the sleep, had turned the sophomoric fledglings into a band of angry-eyed killers. They were killers too, as the killing of enemy squads was an important aspect in surviving the training. Among them, the Chaos Marines also chose the Neophytes that would soon be trained as the next generation of Terrorkind Chaos Space Marines. Little over fifteen hundred potentials were put on trial of combat and survival. Among the six hundred or so who survived, the half with any permanent injuries that could be a hindrance in combat were cast out, to become either Servitors or train as officers for the Terrorkin. Apothecary Scipio walked among those three hundred finalists, and checked them for compatibility to the gene-seeds of Arthur's Chaos Marines.

Arthur had in his possession one hundred thirty two gene-seeds from the sixty six Chaos Space Marines he had summoned thus far. Terrorhost Primus and Secondus were no use as Kha'lath had already used up their gene-seeds long ago, but the freshly summoned Chaos Marines came with two fully matured and utterly pure gene-seeds. It was almost strange that their gene-seeds were pure despite the mutations that the summoned Chaos Marines came with. Another fact about their gene-seeds was that they displayed nothing special about them. It was well known that certain Space Marine Legions had traits that had passed down from their Primarchs. The Blood Angels had their Red Thirst and Black Rage, the Imperial Fists had the obsession with self-infliction of punishment and pain, while the Iron Hands had the strange abhorrence to their own flesh. A particular example could be the Space Wolves and their Canis Helix mutation where their grow fangs and/or turn into giant werewolves.

Once the one hundred thirty two compatible and young candidates have been chosen, others were inducted into the officer training for the Cultist army. While Arthur momentarily considered killing the failed candidates for the fun of it, he decided to let it for moment as his Cultist forces did lack decent officers and was in need of dedicated servants to lead them. The final candidates were carefully trained and educated aboard the 'Zion', Arthur personally ferried Apothecary Scipio and Techmarines Gamma and Delta to Corcrya XI along with the gene-seeds to the awaiting arms of Apothecary Gigerus, who had been preparing secret labs within the tunnels under the mountains. Arthur commanded Scipio and Gigerus to prepare the young slaves to be used as the test-bodies to grow the implants.

In his desire to quickly expand his Chaos Marine army, Arthur used the fact that Magog Cluster is so close to the raw Warp of the Maelstrom. He summoned forth as much Warp power he could channel with his psychic powers and plunged Corcrya XI into the Warp, just as Malcador the Sigillite had done with the Warp Nexus on the moon Titan. The difference was that while Malcador had the Macro-Geller Fields to protect the moon from the effects of the Warp, Arthur had to use much of his precious amulet-energy. For this reason, he had fully loaded the 'Zion' with slaves he could sacrifice to feed his amulet while he cast the powerful spell upon the planet.

Ten thousand slaves were slaughtered and their blood was used to draw the Warp to envelop the planet while his own psychic powers and amulet's energy powered up hundreds of runes that kept the worst of the Warp's effect upon the world. From the outside, the spell lasted less than an hour, and it was almost strange to see Arthur wither as the strain of such immense use of his psychic might. Then, when Arthur could no longer hold the spell together, he destroyed the core of the spell that drew the Warp, casting it back into the Immaterium. With the spell thus ended, Arthur spent next five days eating food, sleeping, killing slaves to feed the near-depleted amulet with energy.

Once recovered, Arthur checked on the planet, and much to his delight, his spell had worked almost exactly as he had wanted. While the psychic shield that protected the planet had only protected the mountain range with the tunnels under them, it held strong. Rest of the planet had become a barren semi-daemon world full of devastation wrought upon the frozen landscapes. The daemons had vanished as the flood of reality drove them back into the retreating Warp, and the planet was once more in the hand of Arthur, though now it was decorated more to Arthur's taste.

The effect he had wanted had been achieved to a degree. Scipio and Gigerus indicated that it would still be another year before the first batch of implants were ready, but it was better than actually waiting a decade for them to mature. Deciding that another year of training could be good for the final candidates, Arthur returned to Lamptan to start the conquest of Lamptan V.

* * *

**7 months since the fall of Lamptan VI**

Lamptan V was on fire. When the Cloud Temple (a.k.a Fortress Palace) of the Cloud God (a.k.a Planetary Governor) fell to the ground after a bright light struck it, the people became terrified of the massive dark ships that descended down through the thick clouds. What actually happened was that a single well-aimed orbital strike took out the giant hover-fortress that lazily floated across the planet's surface. The palace was floating with the ancient technology built during the Dark Age of Technology that had been patched up by Mechanicus. It was a massive version of the same anti-gravity technology used in Land Speeders, powered by sixteen power generators aboard.

Had the Governor's floating fortress palace been destroyed by the initial attack, the planet would have fallen easily to the hands of the Chaos forces. As luck would have it, the fortress had lost its anti-gravity and crashed, but its ancient builders had constructed the structure with more fortitude than Arthur had given it credit. While a chuck of the floating fortress was burning and was lost, most of the fortress was quite sound. No sooner did the floating fortress fall, its inhabitants quickly diverted powers to the Void Shield and the giant laser cannons of the floating fortress. The lesser ships of Arthur's Dreadfleet had suffered damage as they witlessly attempted to land within few hundred kilometers from the downed floating fortress.

Angered by the resistance, Arthur commanded the 'Zion' to land on the vast plains of the northern hemisphere, while the crashed floating fortress lay on the southern hemisphere near the equator. Both the Imperial and Chaos forces prepared for war, while Arthur blanketed planet with a powerful psychic spell to block any possible call of distress to the Imperium. While Arthur concentrated in blocking any psychic warnings, Terrorhosts Primus and Secondus went to war with Terrorkin as Arthur wanted to test out the effectiveness of the weapons and vehicles he brought from his dimension.

Leopard 2 tanks and Strykers roamed large parts of northern hemisphere, subjugating the local populous with guns, while the 8 P-1 bombers, 8 AC-130 gunships and 46 A-10 Thunderbolt 'Warthogs' headed toward the Imperial controlled southern hemisphere to lay down intense bombardment. The with Techmarines assuring Arthur that they can make superior bombs, and knowing that the Techmarines had upgraded the aircrafts with extra armor and small plasma power generators, he allowed the Cultist-pilots to fire at will. Napalms, fuel-air bombs and ordinary bombs raked the villages that littered the mountainous lands near the equator and hills, while the five full Terror Infantry Regiments totaling twenty-five thousand men marched upon the planet's surface.

Although the Planetary Governor had fought back valiantly, his handful of enforcers and pitifully-armed PDF hastily formed from gathered tribesmen were no match for the Cultist army with vehicles and aircrafts. Although the heavy bolter fires and autocannon fires from the crashed floating fortress had caused some minor damage to the Chaos aircrafts, they were operated by the clumsy enforcers of the Governor, and they could not take on the advanced aircrafts of the 21st Century Earth. Eventually, the escorts of the Dreadfleet had drained the Void Shield enough to make it flicker. In those moments, the Chaos Dreadnought entered the fray.

While still focusing on blocking the lone Astropath in the fortress from sending out a distress call, Arthur finally ordered his Chaos Marines to get involved. The Chaos Dreadnought Xerxes was fitted with a twin-linked autocannon and Dreadnought power fist, which came with claws for the Chaos. It was also lucky that though it was still insane, it was not insane enough to be chained up. Following the Dreadnought were the vehicles of Chaos Marines, slowly rolling behind the Dreadnought as it plowed through the ranks of speak-wielding PDF forces.

The Predator Annihilator and the two Razorbacks had finally gained a chance to fight. It was sad that the crew of the three vehicles could not get out of their vehicles. Literally, they were fused to their seat by the design of the program and could not even be cut out of the vehicle. Fortunately, other than being fused to their vehicles, they were still fine, and the Apothecaries could even extract the Chaos Marine crew's gene-seeds, and food and water could be delivered to them. Also, to help their Chaos Marine brothers, the Techmarines rigged pipes and devices so that any waste from the bodily functions could be safely and hygienically removed from the Chaos Marine crew. Even so, being fused to the vehicles all day and every day was a cause for much stress, and had they been not summoned Chaos Marines, they would have already gone insane.

Finally released from the dark bays aboard the 'Zion of Despair', the Chaos vehicles unleashed their deadly munitions upon the barbarians of the Lamptan V before turning their guns upon the floating fortress, now so abysmally ruined under the constant attacks of the Chaos forces. No sooner did the Chaos Dreadnought Xerxes and the Chaos vehicles pierced the flickering Void Shield, they opened fire upon the defenders who gathered at the numerous battlements located across the low walls of the floating fortress. Even as the defenders manned and fired back paltry few lascannons and heavy bolters at the Chaos armors, two Havoc squads and two Chaos Marine squads (newly given the names Naga and Sadow) burst forth from the Razorbacks and climbed the massive pillars of the fortress palace's lower sections.

Soon, the Chaos Marines were on the city itself, and one by one, the battlements were silenced and the gate to the city taken. It was then El Sokauron appeared there himself, after killing the lone Astropath in a psychic duel that ended quite easily in Arthur's favor, despite his continued fatigue from the vast spell he cast over Corcrya XI. Leading his Chaos Terminators and Chaos Chosen, he assailed the central tower-keep where the Planetary Governor awaited him. Arthur did not waste a moment crashing through the gates and killing everyone inside. Then the purge started as the Chaos Marines spread out through the palace, killing all living things except for the non-combat Servitors, who would be an asset to the growing Chaos forces.

* * *

**END OF CHAPTER 18**

* * *

**Force size**

**Chapter 18**

**Name: **Terrorkind

**Founding Chapter:** Not Applicable

**Founding:** Not Applicable

**Leader:** El Sokauron the Terrorbringer / the Morghastur

**Homeworld:** None – Currently operating from Lunar-class Cruiser '_Zion of Despair_'

**Chaos Dedication: **Diablo, the God of Terror and Despair

**Colors:** Indigo & black with gold trimmings and images of horrible monsters

**Speciality:** Psychological Warfare / Terror Tactics / Daemonancy

**Strength:** approx. less than 100

**Chaos Marine units**

**Ground Force:**

Chaos Sorcerer Lord El Sokauron

Chaos Dreadnought - 'Xerxes'

Chaos Chosen Squad – Leader: (Nameless)

Chaos Terminator Squad – Leader: Tarrasque

Chaos Apothecaries – Scipio, Gigerus*

Chaos Havoc Squads – Leader: Hati, Heidrek, Horn, Hrod

*Apothecaries Scipio & Gigerus are currently stationed on Corcrya XI.

Chaos Space Marine Squads – **[Leader/Techmarine**]: Naga / Alpha, Sadow / Beta, Revan** / Gamma***, Malak** / Delta***

** Squad Revan is currently stationed on Lamptan V, Squad Malak is currently stationed on Lamptan VI

*** Techmarines Gamma & Delta are currently stationed on Corcrya XI.

Chaos Predator - 'Kaiser'

Chaos Razaorbacks - 'Jackal', 'Hawk'

**Fleet:**

1 x Lunar-class Cruiser: '_Zion of Despair_'

1 x Tempest-class Frigate

1 x Claymore-class Corvette

4 x Cobra-class Escorts: '_Icon of Despise_'

2 x Defense Monitors

* * *

**END OF REPORT**


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19 is a little longer than the average word number for this story.

Arthur also gained some more CSMs, and some are not summoned. I've added that at the end.

Also, to answer some questions you readers have about this story: Yes, there will be crossovers, and yes Arthur will head to other universes for technology and stuff. I major in crossover... so there...

As for the Galactic Imperium and the Swarm of War... Well, I'm a little stuck with some parts. I am just hoping an inspiration would strike me sooner than later.

Enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter 19**

**Maelstrom Zone**

**Magog Cluster – Lamptan System**

**Lamptan V / VI – Feral Worlds**

**3 months since the fall of Lamptan V**

Chaos Space Marine squad Revan was made to watch over the planet with the former Planetary Governor's floating palace repaired and corrupted and used as the base of operation of Arthur's forces. Just like he did on Lamptan VI, Arthur turned the Feral World into a world cohesively run by a network of his Cultists positioned at strategically critical points across the planet. Also, given their original resistance, Arthur made the decision to reduce the planet's population to a mere one million, killing or enslaving over three million barbarian population, mostly for sacrifices.

With much sacrifices done to feed the souls to his amulet, Arthur's psychic power recovered. It was after such sacrifices that Arthur had become one with the amulet more than ever before, and through such communion with the magic artifact he came to understand that his immense psychic powers came from the protection and aid of the amulet. Indeed, Arthur was armed with the knowledge and experiences and memories of Varhir, a Chaos Sorcerer, and Arthur had known that accessing the Warp was easier than he remembered from Varhir's memories. It appeared that the immense energy stored in the amulet protected Arthur's mind, and even it also channeled all the worship of Diablo into the psychic field that Arthur's mind created in the Warp.

Much like the Daemon Princes or the Greater Daemons, Arthur's psychic power had grown so mighty and his will, combined with the support from the amulet, had forged a dark plane amid the Warp, tended by no one but the pale shadow of his future self, the Nameless Fear, the Deepest Despair, the Lord of Terror and Doom: Ahmra'othgour, the true name given by the will of the Warp itself. The name sent shivered down Arthur's own spine, even though he knew that it was his own name, and he felt power every time he thought of it. Even in his soul, he felt the changes. His soul had not been that of a human for a long time, but now he had evolved beyond the crude merger of three souls. His soul in the Warp did look like the Nameless Fear in its dark glory.

Yet, Arthur knew that he could not rely on the current powers of the amulet for too long. Already, the amulet was becoming weakened by the frequent use and the very act of recharging it. Holding such energy was an immense burden, and it whispered to him how to fix the problem. He needed to get his hand on a Spirit Stone of an Eldar Farseer and merge the stone after a certain ritual that involved much sacrifice. In any case, Arthur did not have the necessary fleet strength to challenge an Eldar Craftworld nor did he have a ground force enough to obliterate an Eldar Warhost can capture their precious Farseer.

In an effort to create bigger army with better equipped soldiers, he created entire societies on the two Feral Worlds so that they would supply him with soldiers for war and slaves for sacrifice. Knowing that these worlds were indeed feral and barbaric in nature, Arthur had commit more resources than he had originally wanted. He had used another Requisition cheat and Energy cheat. Instead of getting gold, which was utterly useless for making weapons, or adamantium, which was impossible for these feral people to handle, Arthur conjured up steel, because lesser metals were too weak and more complex metal alloys were impossible for these primitive people to handle.

While adamantium came in tiny six-gram droplets, steel came in massive 18kg balls. It was like having five thousand super-sized medieval cannonballs rolling around inside the ship. Ship felt like it was groaning under the weight of ninty-thousand tonnes of steel as it lifted up from the planet. After checking that the floating fortress actually had ancient forges of its makers, and that it could actually fly in space as well, Arthur quickly made the decision to order the people of Lamptan V to build a new fortress palace of stone and concrete for the Squad Revan, while taking the floating fortress into space. While much of the advanced functions of the automated forge had been lost despite feeding much energy to its machines, the forge could still melt plasteel as well as steel and alloys of higher melting point.

In a flurry of actions, Arthur quickly rerouted the two Defense Monitors that he had captured on Corcrya XI to be docked and stationed for the floating fortress, to which he gave the name 'Kerak'. He then summoned another Chaos Marine Squad with the Aspiring Champion given the name 'Raynald', named after the infamous Raynald of Châtillon, the Prince of Antioch and Lord of Oultrejordain during 12th Century Earth. The Techmarine attached to the squad was not given the names like his fellow Techmarines but was given the name 'Balian', the protagonist Arthur mildly disliked in the movie 'Kingdom of Heaven' which was not historically accurate but Arthur thought it was a nice match to Raynald. Arthur placed the space-fortress 'Kerak' under Raynald's command and put Balian as the second-in-command as well as the master of the Kerak's ancient and dilapidated forges so that the Kerak could supply weapons to my Cultist armies that would be recruited and trained by squads Malak and Revan.

The next step in turning the Lamptan system into Arthur's homeground was to create five primitive smelting facilities and forge complex on both Lamptan V and VI so that the primitives could be armed with swords and steel armor while Balian built up stores of superior weapons. Arthur dropped thirty-thousand tonnes of steel on Kerak, Lamptan V and VI, while conjuring plasteel, ceramite and other required metal on Kerak. He also ordered the two planets to develop mines to feed the Kerak, and the two Defense Monitors to ferry cargo between the planets and the space-fortress.

Once the issue with Kerak was done, Arthur pondered his next move. He certainly had excess energy, after so many lives were sacrificed in his name and by his hand on Lamptan V, but he did not want to squander them, despite his need for more Chaos Marines. In the end, he decided to take a chance and dive into the Maelstrom to find some Forge World controlled by the forces of Chaos so that he could barter, purchase or capture more ships and weapons. While he could not do anything about them, he needed more troops. So, he made the appropriate investment. He used up energy he gathered from about 1.3 million souls to increase his maximum population limit to 600, and since he already have the usage of 450, he had 150 population he could use to summon more Chaos Marines.

While 150 population sounded great, it was worth mere three full squads of Chaos Space Marines, or six Chaos Havoc Squads. After a long meditation, he summoned two more Chaos Space Marines Squads, and two Chaos Havoc Squads. This had meant that in future encounters he would need to avoid ship-to-ship combat and use more boarding parties or landing of troops. Thus solidified in his resolve, Arthur commanded his fleet into the Maelstrom.

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* * *

**The Maelstrom **

**Lunar-class Cruiser 'Zion of Despair'**

Arthur sighed as he gently stroked his hand through a myriad of black millipede-like tentacles growing on the head of a small daemon-dog conjured from his own twisted mind. It had a head size of a young human boy but had no eyes, had six large nostrils and a very large mouth that impossibly reached to the back of its head, while its neck was connected through a small twisted cord of intestines. It had five legs, one in the front, three in the middle and one in the back, with a tail that looked like a scorpion's tail if it had tiny bird wings flapping madly.

"You are bored too, aren't you?" he whispered as the daemon-dog made sound like a mating call of a monkey and shuddered in disquiet pleasure as its master's armored hands gently stroked it.

Ever since the fleet had entered the Maelstrom, the reality and the Warp had been a blur despite the Geller Field. Without the firm hold of reality, the daemons implanted across the ship by Arthur began awake from their sleep, and screeched out in terrible psychic tremor that attracted the daemons from all around the fleet. Those lesser daemons were unaware that the scream had not been a call to invite the daemons but to bait them to come close.

Seeing the Geller Field in a relatively weak state, the lesser daemons dared to enter the ship, only to find themselves confronted by the indigo and black daemons of Diablo, whose tentacles had been quite a match against the Hellblades of Blood Letters, Warp-fires of Horrors, bile of Nurglings and screams of Daemonettes. The Nightmares, the lesser daemons of Diablo fought the daemons of other Chaos Gods with viciousness and vigor that was surprising for daemons so young. Then the larger daemons of Diablo began to manifest themselves, their will bound to Arthur, their master. Sentinels, the daemonic mounts of Diablo, twirled and swirled and floated about with the horrifying Ungolrog tangled in its tentacles.

Even as the Nightmares clang its deadly tentacles against the Khornate Bloodletters, spewed black gunk against the fires of Tzeentchian Horrors, tangling with the Slaaneshii Daemonettes or viciously fighting the Nurgling with everything it's got, the larger daemons arrived. Ungolrog breathed indigo flame from its mouth, and slashed with its claws. Sentinels quickly entered the fray, grabbing a daemon with its many tentacles and tearing them apart with surprising ease. As the daemonic battle covered the ship in a thick layer, Arthur's daemons became more genuine within the Warp itself.

"Yet, all these daemon fighting has become boring..." mused Arthur, as he suddenly grabbed the daemon-dog's head with his hand and crushing its skull.

Then a Chaos Marine came up to him. This Chaos Marine had the colors and decorations of the Terrorkind, but he was not one of the summoned Chaos Marines nor was he one of the Terrorhosts, Arthur's lieutenants.

"What is it, Varasq?" demanded the Chaos Lord as the Chaos Marine knelt before him.

Varasq was not a summoned Chaos Marine but he used to be a Chaos Marine in a minor fragment of a broken Chaos Marine Warband, and before that, he used to be a young Imperial Fist. Arthur did not care to know the story of a single unimportant Chaos Marine, but Varasq had been a smart one to suck up to Arthur once Arthur had easily slain the Aspiring Champion Kor'neck who led the paltry dozen Chaos Marines and many hundred Cultists aboard a Slaughter-class Cruiser. Arthur did not ask where a minor Warband like theirs had gained the ship, because it was obvious from the signs inside their ship that they had once been a part of a larger Warband that had torn itself asunder.

"We have detected a ship, my lord. A Styx-class Heavy Cruiser of unknown Warband, six escorts." reported the Chaos Marine.

"At last! Another prey to my blades!" roared Arthur in great pleasure. "Alert the fleet! We shall assail this target!"

"Yes, my lord."

Arthur was getting the hang of this. He had not only taken the ship and the remaining members of Varasq's Warband, but he had managed to capture a Dauntless-class Light Cruiser, once belonging to an Imperial Fleet but turned traitor. Now, it had become a pirate ship, and in their misfortune, they were assailed by Arthur's fleet. Arthur had personally teleported aboard their ship and killed the command crew, capturing another ship with ease.

However, his luck of meeting strong enemies was about to kick in.

"My lord, they are hailing us." reported one of the 'Tech-Cultists' as he called them.

"Oh, this is a bold on. Answer his hail, and put it on the main display."

Within moments, the large primary holographic display device lit up to reveal a heavily mutated face of a Chaos Lord. It was clear from the picture that this Chaos Lord was wearing a suit of Terminator Armor as well.

"I am El Sokauron, the leader of this Warband." said Arthur, deliberately sounding mild.

~I am Charam the Savage of the mighty Brothers of Killing Hands Warband. I give you a chance to surrender your ship and serve under my command in a glory life of battle and murder!~

Arthur chuckled. Of course, Arthur had done this trick once before. He had hidden the rest of his fleet in a veil of psychic power that made them blend in among the currents of the Warp, fooling the enemy into believing that Arthur only had one ship. Trying his best to hold the laugh, he spoke subserviently.

"Well, my lord Charam the Savage, of course I would love to join your Warband, and I would most certainly donate my ship to the glorious battles and murder... However... I wish to pledge my service in person, and so that none of my men would challenge you for leadership." Arthur spoke, his voice so charming and gentle that threw off the other Chaos Lord from his balance.

~Wait... What? You wish to surrender?~

The incredulity was so palpable on his face, and it was justifiably so. No Chaos Warband of would just surrender unless there such massive difference between the warbands' strengths.

"I have instructed my crew to lower the Void Shield, and if you would just lower your own, I could teleport aboard and surrender myself." He said with such sweet seduction in his voice that Charam could not resist.

Charam thought that this Chaos Lord is an idiot or he is thinking to make an unexpected strike. He had no idea that Arthur was just going to go there without a plan.

~I have lowered our Void Shield and I have sent you the transmission code for our teleport beacon.~ muttered Charam, still unsure of his decision.

"My thanks, Lord Charam." answered Arthur, turning off the hologram.

* * *

**The Maelstrom **

**Styx-class Heavy Cruiser 'Infamy of Savagery'**

Acrid stench of ozone filtered through the helmet's air filtration system. With an Astartes' secondary lungs capable of processing ozone into useable oxygen, the helmets only filtered out less savory elements from the tainted air aboard the different ship that Arthur had suddenly appeared. The air was foul, and there were smells of blood, disease and perfume-like stench. It told Arthur one thing about the Warband that inhabited this ship.

They were of Chaos Undivided. To be exact, they were only worshiping Khorne, Nurgle and Slaanesh, with little or no regards paid to the God of Sorcery. The smell was blood was pervasive in the air as if fresh blood was spilled every day for a long time and they had let the blood simply pool on the floor and dry out. The disgusting filth of Nurgle was everywhere too. The air vents and atmospheric filters were full of bacteria and virus that literally choked the surrounding air with their sickness. The last, but not least, was the repugnant and suffocating smokes that must have come from pots of burning incense.

Had he been any other living being, he would have felt the rising bloodlust at the scent of blood so rife in the air, would have felt great increase in the senses when the fumes of the lustful aroma hit the nostrils, and he would have felt sick as the lungs were infected with the foul blight. Yet, he was not a normal Chaos Marine. He was Arthur, the El Sokauron the Terror-bringer, the Morghastur, the Diablo. His presence in the Warp was neither the pulsating bloodlust that waved over the planes of Warp in red nor the lewd and hedonic delight of bright pink. His presence was not the sickly and putrid green that slowly crawled across the Warp, and he was not the ever-changing shades of blue that knew no rest. His presence in the Warp, though small, was of indigo.

He was the near-black gunk, the dark jelly that reached forth with its semi-liquid tentacles to encroach upon the planes of the Warp. Black was the death of all colors, for when they mix and all hope had faded and all lights are out, there was only black. Though black was not quite his color, very dark indigo came very close. He was near total absence of all light, the pure despair. In this, he was powerful, and with his power came the strength to make himself immune to the effects of other Gods' powers channeled through such meager means. While Arthur would not and could not withstand the strength and power of other Chaos Gods in earnest, he was certainly not going to be defeated by mere smells. He was his own master, and all would surrender to despair in his presence.

The moment felt like an eternity. From the spark that disassembled his physical form to the transition to the reassembly of his form, he was aware. He was aware more than ever, and he was not becoming aware of the surroundings. Just as he had suspected, he was surrounded by a cadre of the foolish warriors. There were six Bloodletters of Khorne, each bound with strange collar around their necks, and cuffs around their arms and ankles connected by chains. They were like feral beast held back only by the sorcery that filled the bonds that bound them. There was a sorcerer among this bunch, and he was hiding. There were others too, like the three Plague Marines standing idly among the others. One had a shoulder-mounted rocket launcher, while another had a bolter, while the third had a bolter and a rusted sword that seemed to glow in sickly green.

Arthur made a note of them, for they were going to be the clear enemies in this. His personal grudge against Nurgle and his minions stemmed not from bad experience with his forces, but because Nurgle was the current God of Despair, though the Disease God did a terrible job of it. Giving hope of salvation, even a false one, was an abhorrent idea for Arthur. All sentient beings in the universe deserved nothing less than utter despair. They should feel the absolute lack of any means to forestall their death and defeat. They should moan over everything they've lost and would lose. In his opinion, Nurgle failed as the God of Despair because he was too busy being the God of Disease and Rot. Arthur would not fail. For that reason alone, he despised Nurgle and his minions.

Around him were warriors of other gods too. Two Noise Marines, their faces so horribly mutated far beyond any mortal imagination, and their armor so brightly decorated and so contrasting in the eyes that mortals may even go blind at the sight of these Slaaneshii warriors. There were a dozen 'normal' Chaos Marines of Chaos Undivided, some with hints of their original Chapter whom they had betrayed the sacred trust with their 'God Emperor'. To Arthur, they were warrior who had seen the truth. There is nothing in the universe that actually bound them to the Corpse Emperor. The Loyalists and the civilians who live upon the million worlds of the Imperium were just held in prisons of their own mind, chained by the false belief that there is something intrinsically good in mankind, and that the universe cared about them, and ideas of justice, honor and faith. There are no such things. There is nothing, and in understanding that all things have no meaning, there is only despair.

He liked the Chaos Marines of the Chaos Undivided, because they were not bound to one deity. They were not driven to madness by the influence of one god, but instead, they have chosen to see the truth. All Arthur needed to do was to help them embrace the despondency from the truth about how their lives had no intrinsic meaning. Arthur made a mental note to keep them alive. He made no such notes for the two growling Khorne Berserkers already prepared to strike at him. The Khornate creatures were rabid dogs that did not care about anything but the murders and blood. Instead of surrendering to despair, they gave in to the madness of violence, just as Slaaneshii followers forgot themselves in extremes of senses. They dared to forget about their own insignificance in the senseless, purposeless violence instead of submitting to the truth. Indeed, knowing how insignificant you are makes you terrified and afraid of everything, but that was no reason to abandon the truth. Thus, Arthur despised the Khornate warriors and the Slaaneshii hosts, but still they were better than the false hopes of Nurgle.

Finally, there was the enemy Chaos Lord, Charam the Savage. Donning a suit of horribly corrupt Terminator Armor dedicated the Gods of Chaos, particularly Khorne, Nurgle and Slaanesh. Brandishing the Lightning Claw on his right hand and a Melta Pistol in his left, he would have looked menacing and terrifying to a lesser warrior of Chaos. Yet, Charam did not know about Arthur and the powers he commanded.

"Welcome, El Sokauron, to my ship 'Infamy of Savagery'. Here, you shall meet your end and your warriors and your ship would be mine." declared Charam, so certain of his victory over Arthur. "Now, please resist, because that way, I shall enjoy your screams as my Bloodletters tear you to pieces."

The Bloodletters and the two Khornate Berserkers chuckled in glee, but their voices were quickly overwhelmed by Arthur laughing hysterically as if he had heard a very good joke.

"My apologies, Charam. I have not heard such fine joke in years." said Arthur as he really almost cried with laughter. "You think your pitiful forces can kill me? Hahaha! Ask your sorcerer how many of my ships now surround your with their weapons fully ready to obliterate this vessel."

At Arthur's words, Charam turned his head, and from the shadows came out a Slaanesh Sorcerer, with all the flamboyance of a Slaanesh follower, including a left hand, which had six forked tongues as is fingers gripping tightly around a staff that wriggled with what looked like long thin penises slowly crawling up carvings of big-breasted women.

"He ssspeaksss the truth. There are many ssshipsss that sssurroundsss usss. I can feel them… They… are different… Not of Khorne, or Tzeentch, or Nurgle, or even the Great Prince of Excessssssss" muttered the Sorcerer, his gaze somewhere beyond the immediacy.

Charam turned back to Arthur with a savage growl.

"You tricked me!" Charam roared as he realized that it was his own Warband that was in danger.

"**You were a fool to invite me here.**" replied Arthur in a voice that was deeper and ringing with power, yet still so calm despite being surrounded. "**Here, you shall meet your end and your warriors and your ship would be mine.**"

His anger rising from having his own words spat back in his face, Charam screamed at his minions.

"KILL THIS FOOL! TEAR HIM APART!"

The first to challenge the Chaos Sorcerer Lord El Sokauron were the Bloodletters. All six of them jumped him, brandishing their deadly Hellblade. Some made the gesture of thrust, while others simply swung downward. Yet, even as the six Bloodletters hide the giant Chaos Lord from view, something strange happened.

The Hellblades were the hell-forged blades of Khorne within which an angry daemon constantly hungered for blood and its anger sharpening the blade to a point where no mortal armor could withstand it. So, the Bloodletters and everyone else surrounding Arthur had thought that the Chaos Lord would die with multiple blades stuck through him. Instead of this happening, the Hellblades were stuck inside the armor as if they had struck not a hardened armor but a pool of indigo-colored muck. Like quicksand of darkness, something pulled the Hellblades deeper, and with them, the Bloodletters.

Surprised, the Khornate daemons attempted to pull out, only to have a myriad of semi-liquid tentacles burst forth from the tiny pool of dark muck that pulled in the Hellblades. The tentacles grabbed the resisting Bloodletters and dragged them kicking and screaming into the muck that covered the Chaos Lord's armor.

Within moments, the daemons disappeared along with the dark muck pooled over the armor as if it had all been a terrible nightmare.

Arthur chuckled.

"**Thank you for inviting me for this delicious meal, Charam. Where were we? Ah, that's right… It was you threatening to kill me, and me laughing at you for the absurdity of it.**"

* * *

END OF CHAPTER 19

* * *

Added squads

**Ground Force:**

Chaos Space Marine Squads – **[Leader/Techmarine**]: Raynald / Balian*, Exar / Rexe, Kun / Nuk

* Squad Raynald is stationed on space station 'Kerak'.

**Fleet:**

1 x Slaughter-class Cruiser

1 x Dauntless-class Light Cruiser


	20. Chapter 20

New chapter is up, and thanks for all the reviews!

As for the progress of SG:GI and TSoW, the Galactic Imperium's next chapter is well on its way. I had to sit through some of the teen angst movies to get inspired for GEK's moments in American Highschool. If any Americans wants to give their ideas or experiences of American Highschools, please pm me! I do need some to help with the chapter.

Now, this chapter of Path to Godhood contains some dark theme, so beware of it, please.

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**Chapter 20**

**The Maelstrom **

**Styx-class Heavy Cruiser 'Infamy of Savagery'**

"I said, kill him!" roared Charam once more, pointing at Arthur with its lightning claw.

At the behest of their master, the Warband assailed Arthur. Every gun was brought to bear.

Arthur just smiled.

The Frag missile exploded, but it did not harm Arthur as his newly installed Refractor Field generator formed an orb around the Chaos Sorcerer Lord and blocked the heavy blast. Bolter rounds, heavy bolter rounds, plasma, and flamer were fired upon the energy field, only to fail against its strength.

Then the Khorne Berserkers went in, bringing their melee weapons to strike Arthur within the protective field itself. The two charged, and the one on Arthur's left stepped inside the field, and he attempted to swing his chainaxe down at Arthur, only to be skewered by the 'Fang of Tribulation' as Arthur thrust it deep into the enemy Chaos Marine. He flung the dead Berserker at his comrade, but the other Berserker had already ducked under.

The Berserker brought his chainaxe diagonally from low, but Arthur had different ideas as to how this round should end. The 'Fear of All', Arthur's stormbolter, sped forward and drove its power sword bayonet into the Berserker's neck. The blade with crackling energy easily pierced the soft armor around the neck, and with a faint smile behind his helmet, Arthur pressed the trigger. Three bursts followed, and the Berserker's head exploded along with his helmet.

"**Is this all? Now that Khorne Berserkers are done, is it Plague Marines who would now challenge me?**" asked Arthur, deliberately goading Charam and the Plague Marines.

With the exploding heads of the Khorne Berserker, the slow-moving Plague Marines took their turn attack the Chaos Lord of Terror. Even as Arthur pulled out the bayonet from the throat of the dead Berserker, another Frag missile exploded upon Arthur's right shoulder pauldron. The explosion was not enough to dislodge Arthur from his position, but it was enough to pierce through the remaining effects of the Refractor Field and strike the polarized plating of the Terminator Armor. With the energy orbs fed to the Terminator Armor, the polarization of the hull had become power enough to simply bounce off even the shells of autocannons or the beams from lascannons, and that had protected Arthur against the missile.

"**Ha! Your weapons are woefully inadequate, Plague Marine!**" shouted Arthur.

As Arthur quickly turned to face the Plague Marine that dared to attack him, a burst of bolter rounds exploded on his back, which came from the second Plague Marine with a bolter. Arthur quickly decided to take out the one with the bolter first as it was closer. Arthur's storm bolter arced around to the bolter-firing Plague Marine and fired a burst of bolter rounds in staccato fashion that easily punctured the half-rotten power armor of the Nurgle's servant. Arthur had turned and charged at the Plague Marine, knowing that a servant of Nurgle would not fall so easily by few shots of bolter rounds.

The bloated form of the Plague Marine did not waver or stumble or even cry out in pain. Indeed, it was numb to such mortal things. It truly represented the price of the false hope that Nurgle grants to its followers. Its intestines exploded as more bolter rounds exploded within its chest and belly. Long since decomposed into gunk of sick ooze or turned into toxic mushrooms that spread more disease, the Plague Marine's hearts and lungs were shredded by the shrapnel of bolter rounds' explosions, only to mean nothing to the function of the Nurgle's champion. Yet, even it could not stay standing when its spine and bones were shattered. Like a falling log, it fell to its knee slowly even as Arthur's sword sliced off its head.

"**To the death with you, disease-ridden filth! Meet your end and despair!**" Arthur roared at the silent Plague Marine as its head was cast down to the floor.

The death or whatever was equivalent for the Plague Marine had a peculiar effect on its body. Unable to bear the lack of its owner's will to survive, the Plague Marine's body exploded in a cloud of noxious gas and toxin. It was not enough to affect Arthur, but it was enough to force him back half a step. It was then Arthur realized that the third Plague Marine that he had momentarily forgotten had came upon the Chaos Lord. Briefly surprised, Arthur's body reacted instantly. Spinning around at an incredible speed, the Chaos Lord's sword blocked the powerful downward strike of the Plague Marine's rusted power sword, where the sparks of two powered weapons meeting were added with tiny bits of rust and splatters of fetid pus.

Blessed by the power of the amulet, and by his own indomitable will, Arthur was immune to the effects of such rot, and he quickly proceeded to attack this foolish Plague Marine who dared to even imagine it was a match against the Chaos Lord. The swords met each other again and again, each strike forcing back the lumbering Plague Marine back. Then the storm bolter was brought to bear just as the Plague Marine raised his corrupted bolt pistol and fired at Arthur's head. The bolter rounds of the Plague Marine were unable to pierce the helmet's own field of magnetic field formed from the metal polarization technology of old. With blazing sparks, the bolter rounds bounced off the helmet, only to be exploded mid air. Then the storm bolter fired into the Plague Marine's face. The sharp sounds of the weapons fire exploded within the Plague Marine's diseased head, breaking through what remains of its helmet and skull, while sundering the putrid brains that it still had inside.

Without its head, the creature fumbled, and with no mercy or hesitation, Arthur raised his sword high, only to be knocked aside as the Plague Marine with the missile launcher fired a Krak missile this time around. The left shoulder pauldron of Arthur's Terminator Armor was struck, and even it could not withstand the impact of a Krak missile unscathed. The horrific decoration of Morghastur wrought in charred iron was now covered in tiny cuts and had some broken bits.

"**Again you assail me, herald of Nurgle, but know that I cannot be killed by you or anything else!**" muttered Arthur as he regained his footing, and attempted again at killing off the Plague Marine who had lost its head and was swinging its plague sword in mad blind sways.

"**Witness how the blessings of Nurgle is but a false relief from death.**" sneered Arthur as he plunged his sword into the headless body of the Plague Marine and called forth his psychic power.

A dark flare of indigo flame erupted across the blade of the Chaos Lord's power sword, and it burned the Plague Marine, quickly eating away at the diseased Astartes.

"**Now, you who fired those little missiles at me shall feel my blade.**" roared Arthur as he charged into the final Plague Marine as it reloaded its missile launcher.

With a single devastating swing, the front half of the missile launcher was cut and it fell to the floor, and before the Plague Marine could reach for its bolt pistol hanging by the distended cords of its own intestine, the indigo flames of the 'Fang of Tribulation' seared the life from the Plague Marine, charring the creature into a soot-covered corpse.

"**See how your Plague Marines could no little, just as your Khorne Berserkers were?**" Arthur sneered as he walked toward Charam, who looked stricken at the apparent ease of how his loyal followers were dispatched with.

The Chaos Lord Charam quickly looked at his minions, who had already lowered their weapons and watched the two Chaos Lords in anticipation. Charam turned to his sorcerer.

"Sh'raks! Why aren't you attacking? Kill his fool!" shouted Charam even as the Noise Marines and the rest of the Chaos Marines formed a dueling circle around the two Chaos Lords.

"My lord Charam, it appearsss that thisss… El Sokauron ssseeksss to usssurp you, and it would be a ssshame if we were to interrupt this duel. Othersss of the Warband have already agreed to sssee how it endsss." said the Sorcerer Sh'raks as he took a step back to the line of Chaos Marines standing in a large circle, abandoning its master.

"Treacherous FOOL! You will regret this when I tear this whelp into pieces!" roared Charam.

"**So many words, Charam, but no deeds have been done to prove your worth.**" chuckled Arthur as he brandished the sword at Charam. "**Strike me down and tear my heart out, and then all shall know that you are more than words.**"

Charam paused for a moment, and regained the confidence and pose of a true Chaos Lord. The bloodlust began to fill his mind, as the disruptive energy field around the blades of his lightning claw crackled into a small storm around the weapon and his melta pistol whirred into loaded mode.

Arthur smiled at this, for it was the first time he would face another Terminator Armored Chaos Lord in a single combat. Arthur was absolutely confident in his victory, not because he was certain of the combat prowess he had inherited from Kha'lath and Varhir, but because he could not be killed. Infused with the knowledge of the amulet's powers, he knew that he could easily make himself utterly invulnerable to damage, thought at the cost of continued drain in amulet's energy reserves, or he could just revive himself after being disabled. After all, once his 'health points' ran out and became disabled, he could not be harmed.

"**Now, that's a little better, isn't it?**" sneered Arthur as he willed his power sword to its maximum power.

"DIE!" Charam roared as he charged at Arthur.

Though Charam made the first move, Arthur was the one to strike first. Reaching forth his arm, he brought the sword in a downward arc in a deadly swing. Charam returned the favor by blocking the attack with a powerful uppercut with his lightning claw. The impact forced both Chaos Lords to stagger back for a moment. In a synchronized fashion, the two Chaos Lords immediately raised their guns from their waste and fired.

Arthur saw the melta pistol pointing at his head and he powered up his Iron Halo to maximum. When he was in Russia and fighting the Spatznas and Detective Jake Adams, he had foolishly extended the protective field of the Iron Halo all over his body, despite the fact that the Iron Halo was meant to protect only a small area. Given how quickly the Iron Halo failed under assault, he had learned his lesson, and now he focused the protective field to his head only, and added a little of his psychic powers. He could feel the intense heat even behind his helmet as he saw, though it was just a moment, the incredible dance of fire as the air was lit on fire with heat that could melt tank armor.

On the other hand, Charam could not rely on his helmet because he wasn't wearing one. Instead, he decided not to risk his head on the Iron Halo that he had on his head. Even as he fired the melta pistol, he turned sideways, letting his shoulder pauldron to take the hits as Arthur's storm bolter let out three bursts of bolter rounds into the thick plates of adamantium and ceramite that screamed and twisted. Had Charam's armor been fully powered and all its redundant systems restored like Arthur's armor, then it would have just bounced off the bolter rounds that pierced the outer layers of the armor, but the failings of the Mechanicus had rendered armor weakened, and the Chaos Lord Charam lost a chunk of his shoulder pauldron.

"I will play with your entrails, fool!" roared Charam as he attacked with his lightning claw swiping across Arthur's stomach, only to blocked by the power sword getting in the way just moment before the claw could reach its destination.

Yet, Charam did not become the leader of a Warband by being weak. He continued his furious assault, striking Arthur with powerful strokes with each of them being quite possible to inflict fatal damage had Arthur not blocked the attacks. Arthur was pushed back three steps before Arthur saw an opening. This time, it was Arthur who pressed his attack, his blade making a beautiful but terrifying dance of death, and Charam quickly backing up in fear of the blade.

Again and again, the sword and the claw clashed against each other, but the two Chaos Lords were moving at such speed that only minutes had passed between the flurries of attacks and blocks. They had scored some wounds on each other but none of them fatal, and in their desperation, they struck harder and faster, leaving more openings in their defenses which their opponent brutally exploited. Charam was bleeding from a cut on his forehead, three deeper cuts on the torso and one on the upper right arm, while Arthur had suffered glancing hits with the claw that tore him a little gash on his side and on the upper left arm.

They knew, however, that this duel was coming to close. They prepared for the last and deadliest attacks. With a single roar, Charam struck, his claws reaching for Arthur's primary heart. Arthur allowed it, letting the deadly claw dig into his armor. The polarized plating of the Terminator Armor creaked and sparked as the disruptive energy field around the lightning claw's blades. Adamantium and ceramite surfaces and layers of the thick armor cracked up with sharp twisting sound. Arthur felt pain and he cringed his face behind the helmet. The sharp tips of the claw cut his flesh and drove inward toward his heart.

Charam roared in anticipation of victory, and raised his melta pistol to block the swing that would certainly come for his head. It was better to lose the melta pistol than his neck.

The swing never came to his neck. The power sword 'Fang of Tribulation' glowed and crackled in deadly energy as it sliced into the base of the lightning claw, cutting at the joint of Charam's right arm.

"NO!" Charam screamed in shock and horror.

With a sickening crunch, the arm was cut, and then the power cable quickly followed, rendering the lighting claw powerless and stopping mere moments before it touched Arthur's ribs. Bleeding profusely, Charam backed away and raised his melta pistol to take one more shot at Arthur. Even that was countered by Arthur, as the bayonet of Arthur's storm bolter pierced Charam's forearm, cutting through the muscles, bones and ligaments. Melta pistol fell from the Chaos Lord's hand, and Arthur swiftly kicked it aside.

Taking a step back, Arthur tucked the storm bolter on to his belt and grabbed the lighting claw still stuck in his chest.

"**That had been an impressive display, Lord Charam,**" muttered Arthur as he dropped the lightning claw to the floor. "**but in the end, there can be only ONE!**"

With that battle-cry, Arthur drove his sword into Charam's left shoulder. With a single grunt, the left arm was cut off at the shoulder, quickly followed by the right shoulder. Now, armless, Charam looked desperate and broken as pain flooded his system.

"Kill me! Do not humiliate me so!" shouted Charam, as the blood from his shoulders already beginning to seal up as the Larraman cells began to work their miraculous work.

"**You are in no position to demand how you are treated, Charam the Defeated.**" growled Arthur as he gazed over the defeated Chaos Lord.

"**I have decided that you could be of use to me.**" Arthur muttered after a moment of pause, and this brought a glimmer of hope in Charam's eyes.

This only brought a sadistic chuckle on Arthur's face.

"**Do not delude yourself, Charam. I will have you broken before I could use you. You need to know what about the nature of the new Chaos God that you would serve...**" spoke Arthur as he so casually sliced off Charam's legs from the hip, causing another burst of scream from Charam. "**and there is no way better to know your new god than in the long and arduous meditation in darkness.**"

With a gesture from Arthur's hand, the remaining pieces of Charam's armor were stripped from him, forcibly as some pieces were fused to the former Chaos Lord's body. Now naked, wounded and humiliated, Charam could do nothing as Arthur continued to play torturer, and saw the gleeful gazes of his former followers watching the cruel actions of their new master.

"**In ancient times on Terra, there was an empire forged by a man, whose first wife had been very jealous of all the concubines that her husband, the emperor, had acquired over the years. Then the emperor died and his son born from his first wife had succeeded him.**" Arthur spoke softly but loud enough for others to hear. "**Once her weak-willed son had become the emperor, she took charge and brought her late-husband's favorite concubine to her presence. The dowager empress showed the concubine the head of the concubine's son, beheaded and eyes open wide with horror.**"

Arthur chuckled as the Chaos Marines listened, rapt in awe of this mortal woman's sadistic actions. "**As a last punishment, the dowager empress cut off the concubines arms and legs above the elbow and knee, plucked out the eyeballs, cut out the tongue and sealed the ears... then let her live for a long time in the pig pens, to be raped and brutalized by the pigs. Of course, the dowager empress was kind enough to provide excellent healthcare for the human-pig, her favorite pet, so that the human-pig may live a long and torturous life. The end.**"

The Chaos Marines nodded in approval of the cruelty and sadism.

"**I believe that you could benefit from knowing the kind of fate that you would soon suffer.**" chuckled Arthur as he reached down with his fingers pointed as if to pluck out Charam's eyeballs.

Charam screamed like a girl. The very idea of being debased in such manner was horrifying to him. To live an eternity as a human-pig, blind and mute and utterly inconsequential to all things that goes around him.

"No! Please! NO! I will do anything you ask! Not that! NO!"

Yet, the pleas were ignored by Arthur.

"**Good night, Charam, and I hope you have nice nightmares.**"

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

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**END OF CHAPTER 20**


	21. Chapter 21

Yay! We got some Space Marines in this chapter, and it would be Arthur's Terrorkind vs Loyalist Space Marines!

Oh, and I forgot to ask how do you all like my new style of writing dialogues?

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**Chapter 21**

_**The Maelstrom **_

_**Styx-class Heavy Cruiser 'Infamy of Savagery'**_

"**Now that Charam has been silenced... Let's talk about you, the members of this Warband.**" mused Arthur as he slowly turned.

Arthur could see now as to how this warband was composed of. It was clear that Charam had led a warband of Khorne and Nurgle followers, and had somehow defeated a Slaanesh champion whose warband he had absorbed. The Sorcerer Sh'raks had been part of that Slaanesh warband, and Arthur could see that Sh'raks was considering to move against his new master.

"**Well, Sh'raks... Are you ready to take me on?**" asked Arthur.

There was a pause, then Sh'raks, having made up his mind to play safe, knelt down before Arthur. Following him, other Chaos Marines also bowed before their new warlord.

"**You are quite wise, sorcerer. You may be of great use to me... or I could always devour your soul...**" mused Arthur as he enacted the healing cheat.

Arthur felt the sorcerer's gaze as the wounds sealed up quickly followed by the damages on the armor reverting back to perfect condition. The surprise was clear despite the sorcerer's helmet.

"**Let's see...**" Arthur mulled over the things he stripped from Charam, and then something caught his eyes.

"**These... are Eldar Spirit Stones, and of powerful ones too...**" Arthur whispered as he picked up a strange trinket crudely holding three bright red ovals together. "**Where did you get this?**"

The Sorcerer came up to Arthur and ran his fingers over them.

"Ah... My lord, they are the Ssspirit Ssstonesss of the three Warlocksss who attempted to ssslay Charam on a remote world where a sssmall Eldar fleet had crassshed a long time ago..." answered the Slaanesh Sorcerer. "It wasss there that Charam had vanquissshed the Ssslaanesssh Champion and demanded the fealty of usss Ssslaanesssh Warband."

Arthur narrowed his eyes behind his helmet.

"**Tell me more. Where is this world? What happened there?**"

"It wasss almossst three decadesss ago, we of 'Ssscreamersss of Ecssstasssy' Warband led by Champion Orensssk attacked the planet Rian'nev, a world where the Eldar had once fought a terrible war againssst the invading Ork fleet. Though the Eldar had defeated the Orksss and pressserved their Exodite World in the sssame sssyssstem, many of their ssshipsss had fallen and buried within the deep junglesss of the planet." explained the sorcerer even as Arthur removed the Spirit Stones and rolled them in his hand.

It happened that the Slaaneshii Warband of many Chaos Marines and Noise Marines had come upon the planet through a Warp portal created by a foolish human cultists who unwittingly settled upon the world. The cultists had been chased by the Imperium and had secretly settled on the planet, and they proceeded to summon the Daemonettes of Slaanesh so that they could die in ecstasy. Instead, the Screamers of Ecstasy had arrived in force, fully knowing the sheer amount of Eldar souls trapped within the buried ships.

However, the arrival of the Chaos forces had alerted the Eldar the moment that the Cultists had arrived upon the world. The Eldar had returned to the planet via a single Webway Gate, and ambushed the Slaanesh Warband just as they came out of the Warp portal. Beset by scores of Howling Banshees and fired upon by Guardians and Dire Avengers, the Chaos Warband broke at once. They were hunted down by cadres of Warp Spiders and Swooping Hawks, and those who managed to flee into the jungle were picked off by the well-hidden Rangers forming a great net over the area.

It looked dire for the warband as their numbers dwindled into less than a score Chaos Marines and Noise Marines. Then Charam arrived above the planet with his small fleet of ships and over a hundred Chaos Marines and cadres of Plague Marines and Khorne Berserkers. The Eldar positions were bombarded and daring strikes were made against the Eldar Warhost, and the Eldar too broke ranks and fled back into the jungles to evade the wrath of the fleet hanging beyond the clouds. Descending his ships down low, Charam found the survivors of the Slaanesh Warband, and delivered the ultimatum to either surrender or die. The Slaanesh Champion Orensk challenged Charam but the Terminator Armored Chaos Lord was too much for the half-exhausted Champion.

Absorbing the few remaining Slaanesh followers, Charam arrogantly strode into the jungles in search for the buried Eldar ships. Little did he know that the Eldar had foreseen his arrival. As Charam and his ground forces stumbled about in search for the buried ships, the Eldar had somehow pierced the distance and height, and entered Charam's ships. Scores of Warp Spiders teleported cadres of Banshees, Fire Dragons and Dark Reapers aboard the Chaos Lord's ships, causing such havoc that all but the 'Infamy of Savagery' remained afloat.

Furious at seeing his fleet slowly crash into the jungles, Charam quickly mustered his forces to return to the only remaining ship, but he was then assailed from all directions by the Eldar, led by three powerful Warlocks. Rangers took down scores of Chaos Marines, while the Howling Banshees and Striking Scorpions made short work of the Chaos Havocs, and the three Chaos Predator thanks were taken down by dozens of Shuriken Cannons and Bright Lances. Seeing the battle going badly, Charam ordered his Khorne Berserkers to break through the blockade. He lost all but two of his Khorne Berserkers there. Finally returned to the 'Infamy of Savagery' with just over two score Chaos Marines, including Sh'raks and the Noise Marines, Charam ordered immediate bombardment of the Eldar positions, only to find that Eldar had yet third trap for him. Two dozen Howling Banshees and three Warlocks appeared and assaulted the Chaos Marines.

The battle was close, and even as Charam killed the last of the Warlocks, his forces were reduced to a pitiful few, and he was forced to flee from the planet in a hurry. However, Charam showed his grim appreciation for the loss of his forces by firing a single bio-chemical weapon of mass destruction upon the Eldar on the planet. Purchased from Fabius Bile, it was a crude attempt at copying and harnessing the Life-Eater Virus used as the main Exterminatus weapon. The strange bio-chemical weapon created a massive area of the jungle turned into dark green sludge, that including all the Eldar who failed to escape the weapon's deady power. Though it was not a weapon of Exterminatus-grade, it was enough to exact enough toll on the Eldar to satisfy Charam.

For the next three decades, Charam had fallen into some hard times. Though he had managed to rebuild his forces somewhat, he quickly lost them to some battles gone bad. His choices seemed to turn out for the worse, and his followers were quickly getting tired of him. It was only his martial might that held things in place. Thus Arthur's leadership was rather wanted by the members of this warband.

"**I see... There are Eldar ships there...**" muttered Arthur.

"And with them are the ssspirit ssstonesss..." whispered Sh'raks.

"**In any case, it is not the time to strike such world...**" Arthur grumbled as he gazed over the new Chaos Marines that he had gained.

"**Tell me, sorcerer, why do you follow Slaanesh?**" asked Arthur.

"What? I... I desssire, my lord. I desssire the thrill of new knowledge. There are ssso much pleasuresss that can be gained with knowledge and power! The sssecretsss of Ssslaanesssh is infinite in their excessssss." answered the sorcerer.

Arthur chuckled as he reached forth and grabbed the sorcerer's staff.

"**FOOL! You fail to see the truth! You chase these meaningless pleasures, thinking that they would somehow fulfill the emptiness you feel in your pathetic soul!**" Arthur suddenly roared at the sorcerer, "**Allow me to show you the truth! The dark truth!**"

Like drawing poison from wound, Arthur's armored fingers drew a sliver a black something from nowhere, and put it in his palm. It was like a small jelly, but soon it began to change and turned into a horrible creature of tentacles and suckers and tiny teeth.

Before the sorcerer could back away, masses of black and indigo tentacles exploded from all around him and held back the Slaanesh sorcerer. Coming close, Arthur placed the small dark creature on the sorcerer's helmet, where it quickly entered the helmet through the gaps and cracks.

"**You may remain a Servant of Slaanesh when you wake. However, you would have known the real truth about the universe and that all things are... meaningless. There is only the terror of nothingness, and the despair at the very understanding that you are worth less than nothing. Compared to the whole infinity of the universe, even my fellow Gods of Chaos are utterly without consequence.**"

* * *

_**The Maelstrom **_

_**Lunar-class Cruiser 'Zion of Despair'**_

The Chaos fleet of El Sokauron continued to grow, albeit at slower pace. It was almost a year since the capture of Charam's warband and his ship, and that was within the realm of the Maelstrom. In that short but equally long time, the Terrorkind gained five new ships, and this was actually rather a small number seeing how the Terrorkind could have assailed Imperial shipyards to increase his fleet size just as Huron Blackheart had attempted at Bakka.

Yet, Arthur did not want to alert the Imperium of his presence in the Maestrom just yet. He felt that his forces needed to grow even more so, although his might had attracted the Chaos-tainted survivors of various captured ships to submit to his will, many of the 'normal' Chaos Marines even beginning to worship Diablo as their new Chaos God. Arthur's desire for a greater army had not been sated, however. His acquisition of forces included sixty seven new Chaos Marines, eleven Khorne Berserkers bound with heavy chains and kept like rabid pets, the Sorcerer Sh'raks with his two Noise Marine escorts.

To control and maintain a Chaos Warband of over one hundred seventy Chaos Marines was an impressive feat in itself, but Arthur was not satisfied. Even though he was tempted to strike at more valuable Imperial targets or make deals with the Word Bearers on the daemon-world of Ghalmek, Arthur was cautious because of the fact that he did not have a true battleship.

Eventually, his desires got better of him as his year-long campaign of piracy came to a close and his fleet turned around to head out of the Maelstrom. Before returning to Corcrya XI and implant his highly-trained candidates with the organs of Astartes, he decided to strike at a suitable target where he could acquire capital ships.

This immense feat would deal a crippling blow to the Segmentum, but it did come with certain conditions. Firstly, it would reveal something about the Terrorkind. Even though the target was quite far from the Maelstrom, even a slightly raised attention may draw unwanted eyes to Arthur's still-weak strongholds in the Magog Cluster. Secondly, in order to arrive at their target without directly moving through the Maelstrom and the nearby space, Arthur needed to cast a powerful spell that would be needed to conjure a Warp storm of such size that Arthur's fleet could move through.

Even upon the success of such desperate plan, it would be a folly to engage an Imperial shipyard whose defenses would easily overwhelm Arthur's tiny fleet. He needed an advantage and a plan to suppress or bypass the target's defenses, particularly the local Imperial Battlefleet that was stationed there. Though sounding formidable, Arthur was alerted to the fact that the particular Battlefleet had suffered severe casualty and damage during a resolute defense against an Ork Warfleet that outnumbered the Battlefleet by a great margin. It was this small shipyard that the Battlefleet's ships had been dry-docked and repaired, while the security of the sector was left wanting.

* * *

"Ssecure all deckss! I will not have any issue when we begin our assault." growled Sh'raks the Slaanesh Sorcerer as he kicked a slave in the head to remove it from his path.

Sh'raks had suffered at the hand of Lord El Sokauron during the early days of his surrender. For weeks, he suffered alone in the depths of his own nightmares, unable to withstand the endless flood of horrors likes of which even a seasoned Chaos Sorcerer like Sh'raks had not witnessed ever before.

In that eternal and infinite terrors, he began to understand the 'truth' as El Sokauron explained it.

He, Sh'raks the Soulscream, was a mighty sorcerer who had slaughtered a dozen Dark Angels by himself on the pale ash wastes of Hen'darran V. He had inflicted incredible torture upon the survivors of the Saim-Hann Warhost on the smoking craters of Anaaduwin. He had once summoned a might horde of Daemonettes and unleashed them into the Tkian Hive on Wilix III.

All those terrible things had meant nothing.

No matter how much significant he thought he had in his long life, Sh'raks was still an invisible mote of dust that blew this way and that, unable to see that it was but a flake of dust set upon a giant.

The truth terrified him.

The truth showed him that his endless thirst for knowledge, power and extremes of pleasures was but a fleeting dream that he refused to wake from.

"We are nothing." whispered Sh'raks.

His lisp had been removed as the mutations of his mouth had changed by the will of his new master.

It was not that Sh'raks was no longer the follower of Slaanesh, but Sh'raks now understood why he delved so deep into the seduction of the Prince of Excess.

He was trying to forget that he was nothing. In the throes of blinding ecstasy and pain and pleasure, he momentarily forgot what he knew of the 'truth', but now he could never forget.

"My lord?" asked one of the slaves at the Chaos Sorcerer's whisper, mistaking it for some instruction that the slave was too afraid to fail.

Now in the black of charred iron and five tentacles of a horrible creature wrought in the black iron, Sh'rak's new staff came down hard upon the head of the slave, the energy surrounding its head shattering the skull with ease.

"Witness how a slave dies for questioning his master." Sh'raks declared to the rest of the slaves.

Then, the door opened and five men in personal armor painted with Terrorkin markings came in. Sh'raks turned to see them.

"You have summoned us, lord Sh'raks?" asked the Corporal leading the team.

"Yes. Lord El Sokauron and I shall be preparing the ritual now. Bring sixty four slaves to where the ritual would take place," commanded Sh'raks as he gazed over the slaves. "and do not forget to feed the rest. I will not have slaves die before their usefulness has ended, particularly when I am in charge of them."

"Of course, Lord Sh'raks."

"Bring the slaves within the hour, or you will find your fate in Chaos will end far more abruptly than you had ever imagined it to be." Sh'raks warned before leaving the slave-pen.

Just before he exited the door, he looked down at the railings that made up the floor of the filthy slave-pen. Beneath the slaves was another space, where three strange creatures roamed. They were like large flesh-colored caterpillars that had lost all its legs. They were the eyeless, tongueless, limbless Chaos Lords who had been defeated by El Sokauron and cast down below the slave-pen so that their lives would be spent in the mounting excrement of slaves.

"All is dust." Sh'raks whispered to himself one more time before walking through the door.

* * *

One of the cargo bays had been emptied of all things and eight circles of blood had been drawn upon the floor. A star of Chaos with empty circles replacing its sharp tips was drawn, and there a single slave was forced to stand.

"**Are all my warriors ready to attack the enemy?**" Arthur asked as he strolled toward the centre of the Chaos star with Sh'raks beside him.

"Yess, my lord. Drop Pods, assault boats and teleport arrays are prepped and ready to deliver your warriors to bring damnation upon the enemy." answered Sh'raks.

"**I will not tolerate any mistakes. The spell that I weave here is of most potent variety. With it, the whole of the Battlefleet docked above the planet would suffer most excruciatingly,**" The Chaos Lord commented. "**and as the fleet finds itself beset by its own defense systems, we shall strike them quickly and before they could regroup.**"

"The strike teams and hijack teams are ready to take the vessels, my lord." replied the Slaanesh Sorcerer, mindful of his master's plans.

"**Once we exit the Warp through the Cordosis Warp Storm, I shall initiate the spell, and it would be up to you to open a portal powerful enough to send the fleet right on top of the enemy.**" Arthur commanded, still wary of the Slaanesh Sorcerer, not because of his loyalty but of incompetence he had seen among his minions thus far.

In that moment, the ship shuddered as if it was being squeezed through something.

"**We are exiting the Warp! To your positions!**" roared Arthur and the Cultists pushed the eight slaves into the eight circles.

"**Let us gift the cretinous Loyalists with nightmares that they would never forget!**" Arthur shouted as he focused his psychic power.

* * *

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* * *

_**Segmentum Obscurus**_

_**Caralix Sector**_

_**Caralix III – Sector Capital / Factory World**_

_**Caralix Shipyard – Base of Battlefleet Caralix**_

_**Eagle Warriors Strike Cruiser 'Fortis Vindictus'**_

Stars were beautiful, even though they were only visible through the windows because of the incredible technology that filtered out the light of the local star and highlighted the specific stars. Through the thick windows of the Observation Deck, the dark of space looked very much like a night sky seen from the surface of a clean world.

A Space Marine was watching the stars through the windows. He was clad in blue and white Artificer Armor of exquisite workmanship that bore a single golden shoulder pauldron on his right shoulder and eagle's head for each of the exhausts of the backpack. He was a man of high status, given the Iron Halo set upon the top of the backpack and the golden trims around the vambrace and the greaves of the Mark 6 'Corvus' armor that seemed to be quite a contrast to the Artificer-modified Mark 7 'Aquila' armor that composed the rest of his set.

It was interesting that the pauldron of his right shoulder was not like the rest of his Artificer Armor, but looked suspiciously like a piece taken from the armor of Adeptus Custodes, the God Emperor's personal guards. Indeed, it had been an ancient relic of the chapter, passed down through the generations eventually coming down to this man, who wears it proudly. He had fought so many battles in it, and protected by it. The pauldron had somehow saved his life three times at critical moments thus far when even his ornately designed Master-Crafted Power Maul or his ancient and revered bolter that came from generations of his predecessors had failed him.

"You are watching the stars again, Captain."

At the clear and calm voice speaking to him, Captain Varamus turned to see the Librarian walking up the stairs to the observation deck.

"Yes, Gareon. I watch the stars, so that my heart remains resolute in the face of the countless horrors that lurk among these beautiful lights." answered Varamus as he lifted his hands to the window as if to touch the stars.

"It is not just the foe without that should worry us, my captain." chided the Librarian as he came to stand next to Varamus. "It is always the enemy within that would cause more grief to our steeled hearts than the barbarians at the gates."

Varamus nodded with a little smile.

"That is indeed so, brother." Varamus agreed as he turned away from the window. "So, what news do you bring me?"

"Brother-Sergeant Al'renos has succumbed to his wounds. The damage upon his body was far too extensive to effect a treatment that would have saved many such lives." The Librarian answered, his face turning grim at such bad tiding being brought before his captain. "Apothecary Al'rentos is proceeding to remove the gene-seeds from the body."

The captain's expression darkened as he was reminded of the men he had lost in defending this sector against the endless hordes of Orks that rained down with in their Roks.

"I would imagine Al'rento was not overly pleased to announce the death of his kinsman.' said Varamus as he pondered about knowledge of kinship between the Sergeant Al'renos and the Apothecary Al'rentos.

"No, I suppose not. It is a true loss to the 6th Company and the Chapter. Al'renos was a fine battlebrother, and a good leader among them. He would have become a Veteran in another century or two." said the Librarian.

"Indeed, my friend. To lose someone after only a century and half, when his future would have brightened the Imperium with the deaths of our foes." The captain agreed.

"Tell me, captain, what was their relation? I've known they were connected... but..." mumbled Gareon.

"It is not something we talk of often, but with the young sergeant's death, there is nothing much to hide any more." The captain answered, his gaze returning to the stars outside. "Al'renos was one of many grandsons of Al'rento's mortal brother."

"Ah... I see. No wonder the Apothecary had removed his helmet to... ugh!"

The Librarian suddenly groaned in pain and shock, and the captain quickly turned.

"Librarian?" Varamus inquired with concern as the Librarian writhed in pain.

"I sense something... dark... evil..." whispered the Librarian, still clutching his head in pain. "We are in terrible danger!"

"Danger? Speak more, brother."

"There is no time! Raise the Void Shield! Erect the Geller Field! The WARP!" shouted the Librarian, and the captain leaped to the wall and pressed the communications device.

"This is Varamus, raise shields and activate the Geller Field, NOW!" he commanded.

~Aye, Captain!~

"Captain... look!" At the words of the Librarian, Varamus looked out the window.

There were something out there. Something black and writhing in demented dances of insanity. The sheer size of the horrors that he witnessed blotted out the stars as they came upon the fleet.

"What is this devilry?" asked the Space Marine Captain.

"The Chaos... They are here."

* * *

END OF CHAPTER 21


	22. Chapter 22

Here is the next chapter! Hope you enjoy it!

* * *

**Chapter 22**

**_Segmentum Obscurus_**

**_Caralix Sector_**

**_Caralix III – Sector Capital / Factory World_**

**_Caralix Shipyard – Base of Battlefleet Caralix_**

The space around the Caralix Tertius exploded in darkness that filled the eight points around the shipyard in a perfect Chaos star with the shipyard at the heart of the star. From each point of the Chaos star came eight giant wriggling tentacles that shot toward the ships docked at the shipyard. Like a veil of evil fog, the tentacles grew in size as they reached their horrid bodies toward the Imperials.

Surprised by the sudden Warp anomaly, but being trained to respond quickly to any threat, the crew of the Caralix Battlefleet rushed to man their battle stations. Even as the black tentacles approached them, the Orbital Torpedo Launchers fired first into that darkness. Over a dozen Torpedo Launchers turned their massive turrets and launched barrages of their deadly missiles against incoming darkness. Yet, the explosions of the torpedoes had no effect against the squirming tentacles.

The attacks of Torpedo Launchers were quickly followed by the two dozen Orbital Defense Laser Platforms, whose powerful laser cannons fired numerous volleys only to fail in their works just as the Torpedoes Launchers had done. Then the numerous Orbital Weapons Platforms and their varied weapons fired, shooting Lances, lasers and missiles, all for naught. The dark appendages continued their unrelenting advances when all the available Escorts and other ships moved to intercept them.

Firing their weapons wildly, the ships rushed into the cloud-like tentacles that simply swallowed them. Within moments, the tentacles came upon the shipyard, and then everything went dark and quiet.

It was then that the Dreadfleet of the Terrorkind came upon the shipyard, forcibly tearing an opening in the Warp and exiting the fleet just beyond the reaches of the Orbital Defense Platforms that should have fired upon the traitors. Yet, within the stifling darkness of the Chaos Sorcerer Lord's heinous magic, the guns were silent.

* * *

**_Eagle Warriors Strike Cruiser 'Fortis Vindictus'_**

"Captain!" shouted Belein the Veteran Sergeant of the 6th Company's Command Squad.

Belein had been a close friend to Captain Varamus, even from the days when they were both novices recruited from their homeworld together. They went through the training together, and as brothers they fought during their tenure in the 10th Company as scouts. Though they had separated during their time as Devastators, they were reunited as Assault Marines, eventually serving together in the 6th Company as Tactical Marines. As they have always done, they have rose in rank together, with Varamus becoming the Captain of the 6th Company while Belein had become a part of the venerated 1st Company, only to return to the 6th Company so that they may serve together.

There was such bond between them that they did not need to share words to know the thoughts of each other. It was often enough that a single glance, or a minor gesture would allow each of them to work in perfect harmony and synchronicity that such brilliant partnership had won many victories in their nearly four Centuries of service. So, when Belein shouted to his Captain, Varamus instantly understood the depth of how dire the situation was.

"Speak to me, Belein." commanded Varamus, his tone grim and hard.

"Some foul Warp-thing has swallowed the whole shipyard in utter blackness. Our Auger Arrays cannot detect anything beyond five hundred kilometers, captain." reported the Veteran Sergeant.

Varamus sharply turned to look at the Librarian Gareon, who was still sweating profusely as he closed his eyes and focused his mind. The psychic lightning crackled around his Psychic Hood even as the rest of the Command Squad gathered around their captain.

The Apothecary Al'rento had joined them and he was still wet with the blood of his kinsman, and he was quickly followed by Ordres, the Company Standard Bearer, while the Company Champion Erais joined them last. They all looked at their captain for instruction or explanation, but he did not have any until the Librarian spoke.

"We must move away from this darkness. It is a foul sorcery of Chaos, and it corrupts terribly..." The Librarian finally whispered in exhausted voice. "It is a field of pure despair... It is nihilism incarnate. In the depths of this inky blackness lies true malevolence that seek only to bring evil into our hearts... Our Geller Field is the only thing that is stopping this madness entering our vessel."

Varamus turned back to Belein.

"I want all the battlebrothers prepared to fight back against the boarders. If our enemy has cast this spell instead of assaulting the shipyard directly, then it must stand to reason that they want the ships intact." He concluded.

"Then they would try to board the ships." Belein continued the line of thought.

"Indeed. I know our Company's strength has been lessened during our recent fight against the Orks, but we must muster all strength to protect key sections of the ship." commanded Varamus. "Belein, have Squads Kharlas and Ubein to stand guard at the Geller Field Generator. If the Geller Field Generator is the only thing keeping us from insanity, then it must be our primary concern."

Belein nodded and headed off. Varamus turned to his Champion.

"Erais, take the remaining members of Squads Aquitus and Ruter, and guard the Main Engineering. If the enemies take the Plasma Reactors, they could shut down power to all systems with ease. We cannot have that." explained the Captain.

"They shall not breach my defenses, captain." promised the Company Champion.

"I know that they shall not, brother." Varamus nodded in respect and thanks to the Company Champion Erais, the oldest member of the Company and one of the Chapter's elders.

Varamus now turned to the Apothecary.

"Al'rento, we have Reductor Vials that contain the treasured Gene-seeds of our chapter, all from our fallen brothers in the recent conflicts. They must be protected. Take Squads Osilion and Harion, and fortify the Apothecarium."

"It will be done, captain."

Seeing the Apothecary leave, Varamus turned to his Standard Bearer.

"Ordres, bring me the survivors of Squads Gideon and Marleon to me. You, Gareon and I shall defend the bridge."

"Yes, my captain."

With the orders done, Varamus turned and stared at the vast veil of shadows within a section of the conference chamber.

"Will you abide until the time is right?" The Captain asked the shadow, and from the shadows came replies heavily modified by the vocalizer of thick helmet.

"We are yours to command, captain, and we do not disagree with your strategy. You are indeed as quick-minded as your legendary exploits tell." came the reply.

"My thanks for your kind words, brothers."

Even as the heavy footsteps in the shadows departed, Varamus turned to his Librarian.

"Well? Is there anything else you can tell me?" asked the Captain even as they headed toward the bridge.

"I can already feel the impacts of this sorcery upon the minds and souls of the loyal men of this Battlefleet. I can feel their souls turn and twist into horrors." answered the Librarian, wiping heavy drops of sweat from his brows.

"Then we have lost the fleet?"

"No... There are others... By accident or quick-thinking, there are some who had raised their Geller Fields. I can contact them to form around us, captain." reported Gareon as he took a brief glance at a dozen burly Chapter Serfs carrying boxes of heavy bolter ammunition somewhere.

"If our Auger Arrays are not capable of piercing this sorcery, what chance do lesser ships have?" asked Varamus.

"I have certain relics of our Chapter aboard the vessel, it includes a powerful Rosarius that contains a tiny fragment from the staff once used by none other than Malcador the Sigilite." answered Gareon, drawing a surprised gasp from his captain. "It still holds impressive psychic remains within it. I could channel my psychic powers through the fragment to work as a beacon to the ships that have not yet fallen into madness."

After a moment of thought, Varamus nodded.

"I suppose the relic would suffer for this desperate action, but I must authorize it so that I can rally what remains of the fleet to fight whoever has cast this foul sorcery." Varamus said.

"Yes, captain. I shall rejoin you on the bridge."

Varamus did not spare a glance as the Librarian left his side. He quickly reached the bridge, and as the heavy blast doors opened, he was greeted by the sight of the Techmarine Haronius and a hundred Serfs and Servitors moving about in frantic fashion.

"Haronius! Report!" shouted Varamus, his voice overpowering the din on the bridge.

"Captain Varamus! We have managed to increase the range of our Auger Arrays to another thousand kilometers, and the situation is dire." reported the Techmarine just as the ship shook.

"What was that?" demanded Varamus as the shaking continued. "We are under attack!"

"Yes, captain, and by our own allies." answered the Techmarine.

"Don't tell me that the ships are firing blindly at each other."

"They are, and there is a worse news." Haronius said. "The Cogitators and Logic-engines report a message from the Machine Spirit of Fortis Vindictus. It appears that some of the ships have gone insane, both their crew and the Machine Spirits within them."

Now that had surprised the Captain.

"How many ships are not insane?" asked the captain.

"As far as we can detect from various readings and sensor contacts, the 'The Initiator', 'Hand of Murder', two of the Dominators, three escorts are still uncorrupted by whatever is out there. They are trying to move out from this darkness."

"What of the 'Cardinal Sanctus'? If that ship corrupts, we could be in serious trouble."

The 'Cardinal Sanctus' was the massive and power Retribution-class Battleship brimming with weapons and deadly firepower. It was one of the two battleships in the Battlefleet Caralix, but the Oberon-class 'Lux Imperator' had been destroyed by six fireships that Orks had rammed into it during the last part of the space battle to thwart the Ork Waaagh! that had just arrived in the sector.

With the 'Cardinal Sanctus' being the only remaining battleship, the shipyard was focusing most of its resources to repair it, leaving other damaged ships to be sorely lacking in repairs and resupplies, including the 'Fortis Vindictus', though it's nature as the Space Marine Strike Cruiser had allowed it greater amount of attention than other ships if lesser class.

Even the three Vengeance-class Grand Cruisers 'The Initiator', 'Constanta Vigil' and 'Avenger of Tur' were being slowly repaired, with many of the spare parts being redirected to the bigger ship. In such situation, if the mighty 'Cardinal Sanctus' went insane and began to attack the remaining ships, there was not much Varamus could do with his damaged Strike Cruiser.

"The 'Cardinal Sanctus' was docked on the other side of the shipyard, captain. Our Auger Arrays cannot detect such distances in this foul darkness." answered the Techmarine.

The ship shook again, and more violently this time around.

"Haronius?"

"It was a barrage of torpedoes from one of the Orbital Torpedo Launchers. The Machine Spirits of those appears to have been corrupted as well. Should we return fire, captain?" asked the Techmarine, whose hate for the corruption of Machine Spirit conflicting with his desire to protect the precious Imperial technology aboard those defense platforms.

"We will need to conserve strength to fight whoever has cast this evil sorcery. Destroy the platform and full speed out of here." Varamus gave the command.

"Yes, captain. Projecting new course using our previous position and stellar cartograph of the shipyard. Bombardment Cannons ready." reported the Techmarine, awaiting the captain's final orders.

"Fire!"

The shuddering of the Strike Cruiser quickly eased as the torpedo launchers were easily destroyed by the focused fire of Bombardment cannons at such close range.

-Captain.-

The ship's internal communication system came online and the tired-looking face of the Librarian Gareon appeared on one of the screens.

-Captain, I have managed to contact the other ships. They are following us out of here.-

"Very good, Gareon. Conserve your strength, we may have battles to fight yet."

-Yes, captain.-

* * *

**_Terrorkind Lunar-class Cruiser 'Zion of Despair'_**

"**Hmm... Yes, it is working perfectly.**" muttered Arthur as he dragged himself out of the sorcerous star of Chaos, where the cultists continued to feed eight slaves to each of the eight points in the star every eight seconds.

"My lord, the sslaves would run out sooner or later." commented Sh'raks, whose words still made hissing sounds now and then, but mostly cured by his new mutation granted by Arthur.

"**In an hour, it would not matter. I have well over thirty thousand slaves aboard, and an hour of sacrifice would cost me less than twenty nine thousand. An hour is plenty of time to slaughter or enslave the crew of the Imperial ships.**" answered the Chaos Lord as he teleported to the bridge with the sorcerer in tow.

As they reappeared in the bridge of the ship, the Chaos Lord was greeted by his Techmarines Alpha and Beta.

"**Give me the status report. Is my fleet ready to commence attack at my command?**" demanded the Chaos Lord.

"Yes, my lord."

"**Then attack!**"

Within moments of his command, the screens around the bridge and the main holographic display showed how the vessels of the Dreadfleet of Terrorkind firing their weapons against the enemy ships as if they could see through the thick darkness that had devoured the entire shipyard and continued to do so.

"My lord, Strike Teams Secondus, Tertius, Sextus and Decimus have reported the beginning of boarding action." reported Beta.

"**Good!**"

"Strikes Teams Primus, Quintus, Septimus, Nonus and Dudecimus have begin their boarding action." shouted Alpha as small roars of excitement rose among the Cultists.

"**Silence! I do not wish to hear outcries of victory until we have completed our campaign!**" shouted Arthur, and the Cultists were immediately silent, their fear of their master greater than anything.

Then Arthur noticed something.

"**What is that?**" He demanded.

"It appears to be a ship, my lord. Someone had activated their Geller Fields, and there are more now." hissed Sh'raks, as furious as his master, for the spell was the masterpiece of them both.

It was an affront to his pride as a Chaos Sorcerer that there were those who survived the effects of the spell.

"My lord, a Loyalist Strike Cruiser, one Vengeance-class Grand Cruiser, one Overlord-class Battlecruiser and four lesser ships have escaped the Nightmare Field." Alpha said, and Arthur roared in naked rage.

"**HOW DARE THEY FLEE FROM THE GLORIOUS NIGHTMARE THAT I HAVE GIFTED THEM!**" he shouted, terrifying the Cultists below.

"Ah! A Librarian! There is a Librarian aboard who has made this possible." commented Sh'raks, unfazed by his master's rage.

"**Then I shall lobotomize this Librarian for this insolence.**" Arthur muttered as he still seethed in anger. "**But perhaps, it is better to know who I am going to kill.**"

Arthur focused his mind once more, drawing the immense powers trapped within the amulet.

* * *

**_Eagle Warriors Strike Cruiser 'Fortis Vindictus'_**

"Captain, look! A fleet of Chaos ships so befouled with corruption that I can taste the disgusting energies they emanate!" said Gareon as he came up next Varamus.

"They are the ones responsible for this attack?" asked the captain.

"Most certainly, captain." answered the Librarian. "Even now, I can feel the sacrifice of souls aboard that Lunar-class vessel covered in foulness. Destroy that ship, and the darkness will be gone."

"Then we must strike it down."

Thus resolved, Varamus was about to order his ship to fire upon the Chaos vessel when a shady form appeared in front him.

"Brothers!" shouted Varamus even as he drew his Master-Crafted power maul that instantly began to crackle in energy.

"Wait, captain! It is just an illusion!" The Librarian stopped his captain and pointed his force sword at the apparition.

~**So, you are the Librarian who dared to dishonor the nightmare that I have granted you so that your deaths would be painless.**~

"Who are you?" Varamus demanded.

~**I am your doom, Space Marine! I bring you fear most terrible, and I shall test whether you are truly fearless.**~ said the figure.

"You are mistaken, Chaos Lord. It is you who shall die at our hands."

~**No, I think not.**~

Suddenly, the ship quaked so hard that even the Space Marines had a hard time keeping their balance.

"Report!" shouted Gareon.

"The Vengenace-class 'Avenger of Tur' has exited the darkness and is firing upon other ships." reported the Techmarine. "Its Machine Spirit is still insane and the Auger Arrays are reporting of daemonic creatures on the exterior and interior of the vessel."

Varamus turned to the shadowy emissary.

"You dare to steal the ships of the Imperium like a rat?" growled the captain, and his goading had worked.

~**A rat? You call me a rat? I was just going to kill you and take your Strike Cruiser and defile it, but now I shall turn you into a human-pig, and let you live out your long life in the heaps of feces, limbless and senseless!**~

Varamus cracked a vicious smile

"What are you waiting for? Come get me, Chaos Lord!" challenged the Space Marine Captain.

~**I will see you in moments, worm!**~

The Chaos Lord's illusion disappeared, and the Chaos ships began to fire upon the Strike Cruiser weakening the powerful Void Shield that protected the Space Marine vessel.

"Captain, a Dauntless-class Light Cruiser and a squad of Falchion-class Escorts have joined the 'Avenger of Tur' in attacking the remaining pure ships." The Techmarine shouted his reported as the ship groaned under the heavy assault from two fronts of enemy ships.

"We are being squeezed between the Chaos fleet and the corrupted fleet. We must move from here. Turn the helm, get us out of this killing-field!" Varamus ordered, then he turned to Gareon.

"Use your mind to contact my Command Squad, have them brought to the Reclusiam. I shall deal with this Chaos Lord there."

"Yes, captain."

* * *

**_Terrorkind Lunar-class Cruiser 'Zion of Despair'_**

"**The fool thinks he can challenge me.**" sneered Arthur as he strode over to where his Chaos Marines were assembled.

He looked at his warriors and smiled.

They were such fine and corrupted band of Chaos Marines.

"**We shall assail the Strike Cruiser, and take the vessel.**"

The Chaos Marines roared in pleasure and anticipation of battle.

"**Sh'raks, take your Noise Marines and the rest of your Chaos Marines to warp directly to their Apothecarium, and capture it. Whatever Gene-seed, tools, drugs or any loot should be ours.**" ordered Arthur.

"Your will shall be done, lord El Sokauron." answered the Chaos Sorcerer.

"**Good, but fail me, and you shall suffer its consequences.**"

"Of course, my lord."

"**They shall guard their Apothecarium with strong force, prepare yourself to unleash terrible sorcery to remove them from your path.**" Arthur advised, and the sorcerer nodded.

"**Primus, take dogs of Khorne and unleash them upon their Geller Field Generator. Without it, they shall not think to flee. Take the nineteen Chaos Marines that came with the dogs of Khorne.**" Arthur commanded to the Terrorhost Primus, whose role had quickly become enforcers of his master's will rather than as an Aspiring Champion of Chaos.

"At once, my lord."

"**Secondus, take twenty Chaos Marines and ransack their armory. They shall seek to defend the Geller Fields, the Apothecarium, the Engines and the Bridge, but they would most likely rely on Servo-turrets and Chapter Serfs to protect their little armory.**"

"What shall I get for you, my lord?"

"**Whatever you can get your hands on. Secure the vehicles and weapons and power armors they carry. If the stinking Loyalists seek to retreat there, then cut them off from there.**" Arthur explained.

"Yes, my lord."

"**I shall personally teleport aboard their vessel, and kill their captain. He would most likely ambush me either on the bridge itself or may be the Librarium or the Reclusiam, or their Chapel to the Corpse Emperor. I shall have surprises for them.**" chuckled the Chaos Lord, and his warriors followed him in laughter.

* * *

**_Eagle Warriors Strike Cruiser 'Fortis Vindictus'_**

~Captain, our Void Shields have failed. We are detecting multiple teleportation signatures all over ship!~

At the words of his Techmarine, Varamus breathed in deeply as he prepared for the battle of his life. If he failed, then it was mostly likely going to be the death of his Company and the capture of his ship, and her subsequent defilement. Though he had an ace up his sleeve, he was hoping that it would be enough to slay the Chaos Lord.

"Where have they teleported to, Haronius?" asked the captain, as calmly as possible."

~The Geller Field Generator, the Apothecarium, the Armory and... wait... Chaos scum!~

"Haroinus!"

~I will not fall to you, fiend! **You have no choice in the matter, Loyalist!** Die! **You cannot kill me, Techmarine!** Argh! No...~

There was a moment of silence before only the voice of the Chaos Lord was heard.

~**Are you hearing me, captain? I have just slain your Techmarine, and my men are killing your Chapter Serfs and Servitors. It is most enjoyable.**~

"You... I shall kill you." said the captain through the clenched jaw.

~**Then come to me, or shall come to you?**~

"I shall wait in the Reclusiam, Chaos Lord. Here, I shall shatter your armor and break your corrupt soul."

* * *

**END OF CHAPTER 22**


	23. Chapter 23

Sorry for the late update. I am enjoying my vacation doing nothing but going to gym and thinking about what to write... rather than actually putting the ideas into words. Anyway, here is the next chapter.

* * *

**Chapter 23**

**_Eagle Warriors Strike Cruiser 'Fortis Vindictus'_**

"You seem apprehensive, captain." Gareon asked as Varamus lifted the relic power axe from its ancient and revered housing.

"I am apprehensive about the Chaos Lord and his actions." answered the captain.

"Why? You have fought them before."

"It is because that I have confronted other Chaos Lords that I feel uneasy. They are formidable enemy with combat prowess that could decimate entire squads of Space Marines." He replied.

"You are… afraid?" The Librarian asked with astonishment.

At the Librarian's question, Varamus reached for the metal plating that covered a large part of his skull on the left side just above the bionic replacement ear.

"I was there when the Chaos Lord of a World Eater Warband smote down Captain Prinius and I was helpless to stop the madman. That was a long time ago." whispered the captain, momentarily lost in his own memory.

Then he shook his head.

"No. I know no fear, but I know that even a moment of laxity or hesitation could end this in our defeat, and waste the sacrifice of those killed." answered Varamus as he checked his Master-Crafted bolter one more time.

Around the Captain and his Librarian were six Space Marines, all from squads who had lost most of their squad mates during their recent conflict with Orks.

"And this Chaos Lord has already shown that he is not an average Chaos Lord." muttered the experienced captain, whose strategic thinking had already considered the new variables.

"How so?"

"The enemy now controls the ship, and he has slaughtered Haronius and those defending the bridge." Varamus said, his expression somber. "This was not expected."

"Captain?" The Librarian asked.

"The reason that I provoked the Chaos Lord was because I needed him where my traps are set, and with only few of his elite bodyguards." answered the captain as he looked at the vast and beautiful sculptures that lined the hall. "These Chaos Lords are often very proud and arrogant. Many commanders have used this against them. Though they now control the ship, the Chaos Lord will come here to finish me off with his own blade, while the rest of his Traitor Marines secure the ship."

"Will the enemy break if their lord is defeated?"

"Most likely. These traitors have lost all sense of purpose and discipline, and have become like the Orks. The remaining members of his warband would fight to replace their fallen lord, and we shall strike them down one group at a time." Varamus answered as the sounds of heavy doors opening were heard from afar.

"They are here… He is here…"

The massive doors on the far side of the large Reclusiam hall aboard the Strike Cruiser opened with a little groan, and through it came through the Chaos Lord and his four Chaos Chosen.

* * *

Arthur chuckled as he remembered the satisfying kills he had just made minutes ago. The Techmarine and a half-dozen Tactical Marines defended the bridge with the help from few armed Chapter Serfs. They brought to bear their bolters, heavy bolters, flamers and stubguns, but Arthur merely roared in gleeful joy as the bullets and bolter rounds exploded upon his mighty armor. He simply strolled in, his weapons raised to strike. The rough sounds of his storm bolter's barks quickly brought low the Chapter Serfs and their meager armor while the Tactical Marines behind good cover survived long enough only to meet their end by his sword.

The lick of fire from a Tactical Marine's flamer still remained within Arthur's mind, and the delight of driving his sword through the Loyalist's chest and twisting it, and seeing the shock of the dying Astartes made it that much enjoyable. He also remembered the steady stream of heavy bolter fire striking his armor, taking small chunks off but ultimately proven too weak to take on the Chaos Lord. His power sword had sliced through the heavy bolter and the storm bolter spat a dozen bolter rounds into the Tactical Marine's face. Such great moments were his.

Now, he was going to kill their captain. The door opened with a groan. Arthur thought that when he turned this Reclusiam into a chapel for Chaos, he would make sure that the door was properly oiled and maintained. Chuckling at the thought of such minor things that crossed his mind, Arthur turned his attention to the Space Marine Captain, the Librarian and the six assorted Tactical Marines. He also noticed the deep obscurity behind the massive pillars that would effectively hide some trap. Arthur had already suspected the trap, and wondered what it could possibly be. Now he was certain, and he smiled behind his helmet as he sent a mental command to his 'summoned' Chaos Marines.

"**Ah! There you are! I see that the cowardly Captain and his ludicrous Librarian, guarded by the terrible failures of Tactical Marines, have all gathered here in this hallowed hall for the Corpse Emperor so they could kill me.**" Arthur chuckled loudly.

"You will pay for your sinful actions today, Chaos Lord!" Varamus shouted back.

"**No, I think not! I will cut off your limbs, and throw you into the cesspool aboard my ship, and lobotomies your Librarian and keep him as a jester at my dark court.**" Arthur spat such words with hate and loathing for the Loyalists.

"You are welcomed to try, Chaos Lord. You are ended here!" roared the Captain of the Eagle Warriors as he lifted his relic power axe.

Then, as if the words of the Space Marine Captain had been a trigger, the trap was sprung. Orange flashes of teleportation exploded all around Arthur, and seven Assault Terminators appeared right in front of Arthur's Chaos Chosen, one Terminator taking on one Chosen. No matter how strong a Chaos Chosen was, a Terminator-armored Space Marine Veteran was superior in their combat capacity, and added with the surprise factor, the Chosen did not stand a chance. The Chaos Chosen, being powerful warriors themselves, fought back with their deadly skills in those few moments before the Thunder Hammers of the Terminator Assault Squad smote them down. Broken and falling, Arthur's Chaos Chosen left only their armors and the Gene-seeds that were now being grown into implants on Corcrya XI.

The remaining three Assault Terminators appeared around Arthur. The leader of the Terminator squad was a brutish looking Space Marine with bald head and he struck Arthur with his power sword. Arthur blocked the incoming power sword with his daemonic power sword just as the other two Terminators, one with a pair of lightning claws and the other with chainfist and storm bolter, aided their Sergeant in attacking the Chaos lord. Yet, both they and the Space Marine Captain had underestimated the Chaos Lord, and his tools of destruction. Ignoring the lightning claw digging into his left side and the chainfist grinding its way over the right shoulder pauldron, Arthur struck the Terminator Sergeant hard and fast, then let out a streak of bolter fire across the enemy's chest.

Impacted by a dozen bolter rounds exploding on his chest plate, the Terminator Sergeant momentarily stumbled back, not because of the impact of the attack but by the spray of sparks in his face as the bolter rounds struck the top of the chest plate, so close to his face. Then, even as he regretted not having his helmet on, the power bayonet of the Chaos Lord's storm bolter came up in an arc and sliced off the power cable to the Loyalist's power sword, and the weapon momentarily lost its disruptive field before the internal power source came online. It was in that brief moment that the Chaos Lord struck hard. The daemonic power sword 'Fang of Tribulation' buried itself into the abdomen of the sergeant, and the black flame exploded as the Chaos Lord twisted the blade.

"Sergeant!" shouted one of the Terminators as their sergeant's body was on fire, and his flesh melting off his skull.

"Die, fiend!" roared the one with the chainfist, and drove the weapon's whirring teeth into the chest plate of the Chaos Lord's armor. The adamantium coated teeth sparked against the ceramite-coated plasteel layer and pierced it and the next layer, but to be stopped by the layer of adamantium plating. Only a power weapon could pierce such defense with ease, but the armor's own energy field had countered the chainfist's disruption field. Then the Chaos Lord retaliated. The storm bolter was turned against the Loyalist Terminator and a burst of shots blinded the Terminator as the bolter rounds exploded around the helmet, breaking the visor and forcing back the giant warrior.

Arthur ignored the wounds inflicted by the lightning claw as he concentrated on the one with the chainfist. The pair of lightning claws was cutting deep into Arthur's side and back, and it was only the might of his own Terminator Armor that kept the blades off the deeper sections of his body.

"**Your life ends here, Loyalist!**" roared Arthur as he sliced through the Loyalist Terminator's right hand that held the storm bolter.

A deadly thrust from the lightning claw was detected, and Arthur was forced to back away from the disabled Terminator, unable to make the killing blow.

"**You dare?**" Arthur growled at the Terminator who dared to hinder the fatal strike against the fallen Terminator.

"I dare, traitor. You are impossibly outnumbered. Your bodyguards are all dead." The Terminator replied, and Arthur knew that.

"**Ha ha ha… You think that I did not expect such trap? You think I have come just with my Chosen as if I am like one of those pathetic and arrogant Chaos Lords who only thinks that they are invincible? I am actually invincible!**" chuckled Arthur as he used the heal cheat.

The Terminator was surprised as the wounds on the Chaos Lord's body sealed up instantly as if nothing happened, and the armor restored to the pristine condition.

"**Die, fool! Die with the rest of your pathetic brothers.**" Arthur said, his smile so apparent even through the helmet.

With dark indigo flash, the four Chaos Terminators appeared, just as the Loyalist Terminators appeared to ambush the Chaos Chosen. Not only that, the Chaos Terminators appeared right 'behind' the Loyalist Terminators, giving them immense advantage over their Loyalist cousins. A power sword pierced the abdomen of a Loyalist Terminator, while the Reaper Autocannon shattered the legs of another Loyalist, and yet a third was struck by a large chainaxe that split the helmet of the Loyalist Terminator who turned to face his enemy only to give the Chaos Terminator the chance to strike at the vulnerable spot.

The other Loyalist Terminators were a little luckier, as their shields blocked the daemon maul and the torrent of flames from the heavy flamer. The two groups of Terminators began to fight, but the side that had been ambushed was in the disadvantage. With three Terminators had fallen so quickly, it was only a matter of time before the outnumbered Loyalist Terminator had fallen as well. The Tactical Marines around the Captain went into action to aid their veteran brothers, but their weapons meant very little in the fight between Terminators.

It was then that the Chaos Lord and the Space Marine Captain clashed. The Axe of Ultramar that the captain had taken from the Reliquary had been gifted to the Eagle Warriors Chapter, a chapter of Ultramarine origin, and had been the center of the 'Fortis Vindictus' as it had been the vessel upon which they delivered the fallen body of the lone Ultramarine Honor Guard who had been dispatched by the Ultramarines Chapter Master Marneus Calgar to assist the Eagle Warriors on an occasion centuries ago. It was a priceless relic and it was as powerful as it was beautiful. The ancient and potent weapon had the power to match even the daemonic sword of the Chaos Lord.

Indeed, armed with such weapon and clad in a Master-Crafted Artificer power armor, Captain Varamus was not an easy opponent, even for Arthur. The 'Fang' clashed against the Axe of Ultramar again and again, neither giving a hint of being strained. Each strike was blocked, and each counter was evaded. Even as the seconds passed, the explosive clashes between then had sprayed sparks all over the ceramite-reinforced floors of the ship's Reclusiam. Varamus would fire his bolter when he got the chance and like the sword fight that they were in, the attacks were blocked by the superb Terminator Armor that Arthur was wearing, while the Chaos Lord's storm bolter could do no great damage against the Artificer Armor.

Knowing that this battle would go on for much longer than he had wanted, Arthur sought to ensnare the captain into a false security and victory. He quickly gave a mental command to the Terminators who had just killed off all but two of the Tactical Marines. Even as the Librarian sent psychic shockwaves at them, the Terminators backed off, appearing as if they are abandoning the Chaos Lord.

"**Where are you going? KILL THEM!**" Arthur shouted, sounding desperate enough to fool the Space Marines.

"No, my lord. We believe that you are no longer worthy of our respects." answered the Chaos Terminator Sergeant Tarrasque, who had replaced the previous Sergeant whose mind had been scrubbed into oblivion.

"**Treachery! You traitorous harlots think to abandon me?**" roared Arthur, while his breath became shallower and his swords slower enough for the Space Marine Captain to score few minor hits. "**When I have killed this fool, then I shall tear you into pieces and feed you to Khorne!**"

Arthur's shouts were all lies but Arthur was sure that the Space Marines would not know the difference, even with a Librarian, whose mind had been plagued and exhausted by the dark sorcery that Arthur had cast to assail the shipyard.

"Ha! See how hollow your words were, Chaos Lord? Betrayals are the ways of you traitors." Varamus declared as he struck the storm bolter from Arthur's left hand.

"**NO! I will kill you here and sunder your soul into the oblivion!**" roared Arthur, his acting finding purchase in the Space Marine.

With a single strike, the Space Marine Captain knocked the daemon sword aside enough to buy himself a chance to take down the Chaos Lord.

"Chaos Lord, your plans have failed here!" shouted Varamus as he poured all his energy into the next strike.

"**ARGH!**" shouted Arthur, smiling behind the helmet but feeling the pain as the Axe of Ultramar cut deeply into his chest, crushing ribs and organs.

The axe was still stuck in the Chaos Lord's chest, and letting go of the handle, Varamus let out a deep breath.

"I have won." he muttered.

However, Gareon the Librarian suddenly realized the ruse.

"Captain! The sorcery is still there! He is not dead!"

"What?"

In that moment, Arthur's left hand, now bereft of the storm bolter, suddenly moved from his dead body and grabbed the edge of Varamus' pauldron and pulled him close with enormous strength.

"Ugh!" groaned the captain as he felt pain.

"**Did you really think you could kill me?**" whispered Arthur even as the 'Fang' was buried deep in the chest of the Space Marine Captain.

"**Is it painful? I wonder if the sword in your chest hurts more than the idea that you have failed so utterly by underestimating me.**" Arthur asked as he slowly twisted the blade.

Considering the captain finished, Arthur stood up and saw the Librarian and the two surviving Tactical Marines.

"**Now, I am going to kill the rest of your company.**" He declared.

Then just as Arthur tried to step forward, Gareon sent a blast of Warp power directly at Arthur, but Arthur was a superior psyker. With a single wave of his hand, the psychic attack was thwarted into several streams. However, even after deflecting the psychic attack, Arthur could not take a step. Varamus had grabbed the Chaos Lord's leg with his entire body.

"Flee, Gareon! Escape! Alert the chapter of this!" shouted Varamus even as he coughed up blood.

"**They think to flee from me?**" Arthur fired a cadre of Doomblasts at the Librarian. "**That is not possib… what?**" Arthur shouted in surprise.

A brilliant golden sphere had enveloped the surviving Space Marines, and Arthur's psychic attacks were turned aside.

"A Rosarius with a powerful psychic beacon. you surprise me." chuckled Arthur, still assured of his victory.

~Teleport beacon ready. What of the Captain?~

"**Who is that?**" Arthur asked in surprise as the internal communication of the ship relayed a message. After all, he had killed the Techmarine.

"The Captain has fallen in a heroic battle. Prepare for emergency extraction for three. Lock on to our signal." said the Librarian with a tear of anger dropping from his eyes.

The Librarian faced Arthur and the Space Marine spoke in dreadfully quiet voice.

"We will not forget this, Chaos Lord. Mark my word, we of the Eagle Warriors, will kill you one day."

"**There is no future for you! There is no place to run! You cannot possibly think you can escape my grasp!**" shouted Arthur as he kicked the body of Varamus aside, whose Sus-an Membrane had placed him in a suspended animation.

"That is where you are wrong." With that word, the Librarian and two surviving Space Marines disappeared in azure flash.

Arthur stood there for a moment in silence, stunned at the Space Marines' actions. Slowly, a small laughter began to rise in volume.

"**Muhahahaha~! Pathetic little Space Marines flee before me, abandoning all their precious relics and wargears. They left behind their…**" Arthur was speaking aloud with laughter when he was rudely interrupted by a psychic communication.

~My lord El Sokauron…~

"**What is it, sorcerer?**" demanded the Chaos Lord, displeased that his monologue was interrupted.

~The team at the Armory reports that many of the containers carrying Eagle Warriors' most prized wargears have been teleported away.~ reported Sh'raks.

"**WHAT!**" roared Arthur.

~My team also suffered such unexpected disappointments, my lord. Although we have managed to slay the Apothecary and his guards, but…~ mumbled the sorcerer, fearing the rage of his master.

"**What of the Gene-seeds? Do not tell me…**" growled Arthur.

~They have been teleported away also, my lord. However, we have secured everything else .~

"**Where have the Loyalists have fled to?**" He demanded.

~They have teleported aboard 'The Initiator' and are fleeing with other ships that survived the spell, my lord. Shall I instruct our fleet to chase them?~ asked the Sorcerer.

Arthur paused. He could go catch up with the Loyalists, or he could finish looting the ships before the spell ran out of slaves to feed to the flames of the sorcery. Once the spell ends, the automated defenses would most certainly regain their sanity and attack the Chaos fleet. He could not have that.

"**No. Take all ships back to the destruction of Orbital Defense Platforms and boarding actions on Imperial ships.**" Arthur commanded.

Then another voice interrupted them.

~My lord, this is Techmarine Alpha.~ said Alpha.

"**What is it now?**" demanded Arthur, his anger slowly rising again at the constant disruption.

~The ship has been set to self-destruct, my lord. I have manage to delay it by two minutes, but we must escape this vessel.~

Arthurs was now furious. He had lost four of the five Chosens, and had personally suffered grave wounds to finish off the Space Marine Captain, but all of that would be naught because the ship was going to explode.

"**NO! Do nothing! You will not teleport away when my victory is so close!**" roared Arthur, his psychic powers, driven my his blinding rage, disrupted the teleporter connection back to the 'Zion'.

Then he knelt down and placed his hands on the ship and focused his amulet's powers.

"**How long do we have left?**"

~One minute ten seconds, my lord.~

Gathering his will, he cast the Invulnerability Cheat on the Strike Cruiser itself.

"**Sh'raks, do your most powerful attacks against the walls of his vessel.**"

~My lord? We must flee.~

"**Do as I say! I cannot be killed by something as mundane as exploding ship. Do as I say!**" screamed Arthur, his mind far more agitated at the incredible rate at which the ship was soaking up the amulet's energy.

~Yes, my lord.~

After a moment, the Sorcerer called back.

~Something strange has happened, my lord. The ship... suffered no damage from my most powerful attacks.~

"**Such is my power. Alpha, time to detonation?**" asked the Chaos Lord.

~6... 5... 4... 3... 2... 1...~ The Techmarine counted. ~What? Impossible... The Plasma Reactors have exploded but the containment did not even get a scratch. It's impossible.~

"**It is my power! Now, is there any further chance of destruction?**" Arthur demanded, secretly swearing inside for the massive loss of amulet's energy and swearing that he would let the ship exploded next time unless it was a Battle Barge or something.

~No, my lord. The ship is now secure.~ Alpha reported.

"**Good.**" He said, and he meant it. He relaxed and disabled the Invulnerability Cheat, and growled at the immense loss of his precious power.

~We are all very impressed with your powers, my lord. What of the space station?~ asked Sh'raks, more polite than ever.

"**We shall take it. Take the Chaos Marines and scour it of life. I shall the station and this Strike Cruiser to aid us in ransacking the planet below.**"

~Of course, my lord.~

* * *

**END OF CHAPTER 23**


	24. Chapter 24

Next chapter! Yay!

* * *

**Chapter 24**

**_Segmentum Obscurus_**

**_Caralix Sector_**

**_Caralix III – Sector Capital / Factory World_**

The screen revealed more information about the planet blow, its ancient black background dotted with green writing appearing on it in slowly as if it was excreted by a slug.

* * *

**Segmentum Obscurus**

**Caralix Sector** – Imperial Control: 95% / Ork Infestation: 4% / Reported Pirate Activity: less than 1% / Warp Anomalies: less than 1%

**Caralix System**

**Caralixia** – Sol Principalis / Type Gamma Primary Sequence: Estimated Life at Approx. 11 billion Terran-Years.

**Caralix I** – Terrastrial: Uninhabitable

**Caralix II** – Terrastrial: Uninhabitable

** Casion Alpha** – Terrastrial Moon: Uninhabitable

**Caralix III** – Sector Capital / Factory World

[Pop Approx. 5,355,000,000 (c. 850.M40)

**Tithe Grade** – _Exactis Prima_: Lasgun + Parts / Lascannon + Parts / Autocannon Ammunition / Chimera + Parts / High Grade Steel / Imperial Guard Recruitment]

**Caralix Shipyard** – _Battlefleet Caralix_ station

**Caralix IV** – Gas Giant: Uninhabitable

** Caras Alpha** – Terrastrial Moon: Uninhabitable

** Caras Beta** – Terrastrial Moon: Feudal World

[Pop Approx. 17,000,000 (c. 220.M39)

**Tithe Grade** - _Solutio Prima_: Minor Adamantium Mining]

** Caras Gamma** – Terrastrial Moon: Uninhabitable

** Caras Delta** – Terrastrial Moon: Uninhabitable

**Caralix V** – Terrastrial: Uninhabitable

** Caron Alpha** – Terrastrial Moon: Uninhabitable

** Caron Beta** – Terrastrial Moon: Uninhabitable

**Caralix VI** – Terrastrial: Uninhabitable

**Caralix VII** – Gas Giant: Uninhabitable

**Caralix VIII** – Gas Giant: Uninhabitable

** Carus Alpha** – Ice Moon: Uninhabitable

**Caralix IX** – Gas Giant: Uninhabitable

**Caralix X** – Gas Giant: Uninhabitable

** Cerix Alpha** – Terrastrial Moon: Terraforming [Paused: Begun c.200.M37]

* * *

"**This planet is quite nice. Though its location and the escaped ships make it untenable for us to maintain this world in our hands, it would have good loots.**" Arthur muttered as he looked at the large screen, and his words were agreed on by his Chaos Marines.

"Although your sorcery has clouded their visions, it would be difficult to conquer this world with the current size of our planet, my lord." Sh'raks offered his opinion.

"**Hmmm... That is true, Sh'raks, but my plans have already been put in motion.**" answered the Chaos Lord, chuckling behind his helmet.

"Plan? Does it have anything to do with allowing the Eagle Warriors Captain and a cadre of our corrupted brothers clad in the armors of the fallen Loyalist Astartes?" asked the Chaos Sorcerer.

Arthur nodded as he ordered his Techmarines to tune the space station's teleportation device to the beacon carried by the Chaos Marines wearing the Eagle Warriors' power armors taken from the fallen.

"**Yes, and in his nightmare, the poor Loyalist Captain shall be our puppet.**" Arthur answered. "**Then after I have slain the leadership of the planet, I shall inform the Captain of how he was the cause of the planet's fall.**"

"Oh, you are so devious, my lord. It is most satisfying." chuckled the Sorcerer.

* * *

The Space Marine Strike Cruiser sailed through the upper atmosphere of the planet, while ships of Chaos fired upon it. Its once magnificent hull was now lined with deep gashes and remains of explosions.

"Wake up, captain." One of the Eagle Warriors nudged Varamus awake.

Varamus opened his eyes and felt intense pain all over his body. He quickly remembered falling unconscious from the grave and fatal wound that the Chaos Lord had inflicted upon him.

"Captain, the suspended animation your sus-an membrane had triggered will fade within moments, but we do not have the time. You must wake up!" shouted the Space Marines.

"What is happening?" He asked.

"The Chaos forces had abandoned their Chaos Lord and rallied around their Sorcerer. In his panic, he was slain by Gareon, though he had sacrificed himself to do so." answered another Marine. "Captain, we are still in battle condition. You must wake up!"

The ship shook.

"Someone is attacking us." whispered Varamus as he stood back up and pulled out the syringes that injected him with drugs that woke him up.

"Yes, captain. Once the forces of Chaos had been driven from the Strike Cruiser, they began to attack us. Unlike the Chaos Lord, the Chaos Sorcerer is not willing to capture our ship."

"Damn it."

"We are also seeing movements among the Chaos forces. They may be preparing to take the planet by land forces. We must aid the planet's defenders while we await our reinforcement."

There was a dreadful headache ringing inside the Captain's head, and Varamus could not focus. There was surely no argument as to the defense of the planet, he thought, and he nodded.

"Very well. Patch me to the Sector Lord. He knows my face."

"Yes, lord."

Even as the holo-screen turned on, Varamus momentarily thought 'Wasn't I in the Apothecarium just now? How did we get to the Bridge?', before the headache became too much for him and he cast such thoughts aside.

~My lord Captain. What is happening?~

The holo-screen showed a well-dressed man in his fifties, and from his bearings, he was clearly a man of great status. He was the Sector Lord, and the Guild Master of the Caralix III's League of Hive Cities. It was his duties to protect the planet, and in light of a Space Marine Strike Cruiser being spotted above the planet while being fired upon was a matter for him to deal with.

"Sector Lord Uelethorn, we are under attack by the forces of Chaos. Surviving members of my Company and I had retaken the Strike Cruiser and has escaped enemy's grasp," spoke Varamus with urgency so clear in his voice. "but we do not have much time. Gather all commanders of Imperial Guards and PDFs. We must strategize against enemy invasion of the planet."

~Invasion, my lord? I do not understand... We are under attack?~

"Yes, we are! My ship cannot hold for too long! I will come down in a Thunderhawk, while allowing the Strike Cruiser to sail unmanned so that the fools of Chaos would chase it." The Captain shouted, his words finally getting through the dull mind of the mortal.

~I shall gather the commanders at once, my lord.~

"I shall arrive in moments with the surviving members of my Company to prepare the defenses of the Capital Hive." Varamus declared.

~Of course, my lord.~

The holo-screen turned off, and Varamus, still wincing from pain, turned to his Space Marines.

"Let us to the Thunderhawk."

"Yes, captain."

Then they were at the Thunderhawk bay, and they went down to the planet. It seemed all so... 'normal' but for the blinding headache.

"Something is not right," Varamus said as he gripped the handle of his power maul tightly in his hand. "Do you not feel this apprehension, brothers?"

"No, my lord... though the servants in this palace seem rather nervous." A Space Marine answered.

For a moment Varamus wondered who this Space Marine was. He knew every Space Marine in his Company, but then the headache came again, shattering all queries of such.

The door opened, and revealed the Sector Lord, the nine Colonels of the Imperial Guard Regiments stationed on the planet, and a dozen Colonels of PDF Regiments. There were a dozen Commissars as well, their ranks varying with a Commissar Lord attached to the Palace Guards of the Sector Lord as their leader. Among the commanders were the officers of the Sector Lord's private army, which was quite large.

"Captain, you look wounded." The Sector Lord Uelethorn mentioned, his eyes betraying his surprise.

"Yes, I have been gravely wounded by it is of little consequence when we have an entire fleet of Chaos about to invade the planet." Varamus said, the headaches and sweating increasing in intensity.

The Captain's vision blurred and he thought, for a moment, that the eyes of the Sector Lord seemed to glow in strange colors.

"What? Why are your eyes glowing?" He asked, but the Sector Lord and others feigned ignorance.

"My lord? What do you mean my eyes are glowing?"

Then a Space Marine, yet another one that Varamus did not recognize despite the familiar armor, only to suffer another bout of pain as he tried to think about it.

"They are acting strange, Captain. Perhaps like... those who are corrupted." The Space Marine whispered through the internal vox channel, and that made Varamus look up at the gathered commanders.

"I see it now." He muttered as his eyes now saw tiny deviations and mutations that the Sector Lord attempted to hide.

"You filths! I will not allow you to escape this place alive! In the name of our Chapter!" Someone shouted, and it sounded like Varamus himself, and he thought that as well.

Triggered by his own voice that may have not come from his own mouth, Varamus went into action, his power maul first finding its target in the head of the Sector Lord. The skull shattered in a bright spray of blood and brain, and before the others could be surprised, the Master-Crafted bolter was raised against them. Bolter rounds, each of them being explosive, impacted the bodies of the Imperial Guard Colonels, whom Varamus thought would be of greater threat, and their Stormtrooper Bodyguards. Their carapace armor cracked and shattered as the diamantine tips penetrated their bodies before exploding.

Screams were everywhere, but Varamus would not be swayed from his path to purge the heretics, and his resolution was strong. The clip was empty soon enough, and just as the Commissars and others began to reach for their weapons, the Space Marines of the Eagle Warriors came to the support of their captain. Bolters, a flamer and a heavy bolter were brought to bear and mowed down the commanders who defended this world. Within seconds, the planet's military leadership was completely erased, and in that moment, Drop Pods rained down upon the fortresses where the troops of those dead commanders resided.

From the Drop Pods came out Eagle Warriors, all clad in damaged armors, and they declared how the commanders of the Imperial Guards and the PDF Regiments have fallen prey to the corruption of Chaos, and other Regiments were all corrupted and bent on destroying them. Within the hour, Valkyries flew off from the nine Imperial Guard strongholds, dropping bombs on PDFs and other Hives, where they fought back with their guns and cannons. PDF Regiments, with their plenty of Chimera tanks, assailed Imperial Guard holdings, while the numerically inferior Imperial Guards on the planet were forced to respond with their Leman Russ tanks and Baneblades.

The planet's Manufactorums, supply depots, munitions depots and reserve armories were quickly commandeered by the local forces, though none of them noticed the vast amounts of weapons disappearing in the anarchy of the civil war. Hundreds of thousands of men, all armed to the teeth with weapons that their planet produces, fought each other in a bloody war whose instigators were discovered to be the Eagle Warriors. The Space Marines had conveniently disappeared in the midst of the pandemonium that they have wrought, while the millions living in the Capital Spire seemed to have turned to worship of Chaos in the fear that enemies would bomb their city.

The sectors within the city began to fall to Chaos as the days passed on, and as more daemonic presence lurked each night, more people died at the hands of those driven insane by the endless nightmares that would continuously haunt them without mercy. Soon, the upper spires turned into an extreme and heavily populated version of the Rapture from the game Bioshock. The people went insane and they began to hack at others. As the taint of Chaos further seeped downstairs, feasts of cannibalism was seen on the top floors, quickly followed by endless screams from rape, murder, torture and any other horrific things that mankind could inflict upon each other.

By the time that surviving military forces finally gathered together in a summit to end the violence, the damage was done. The planet was in ruins. Though the supposedly Chaos-worshiping groups have been eliminated, the distrust was still there. It was not helped by the fact that some militant groups actually turned to Chaos, and various cults of Khorne and Nurgle and Slaanesh had propped up all over, while the Tzeentchian cultists infiltrated other hives. Only the Capital Spire succumbed to the will of Diablo, and millions within the Hive City had died in sleep, literally terrified to death by their nightmares while others committed suicides in despair that their brittle little souls could not bear.

The Chaos fleet that supposedly threatened the world had long departed, taking with them huge amounts of vital resources and produced goods. Autocannon shells were taken from their storage by their thousands, while lasguns and lascannons were now in the hands of the Chaos along with the machines of their production. Only few hundred Chimeras were taken from the planet, deliberately left on the planet so that the factions in the civil war would fight over them. Instead of the Chimeras, the Chaos forces had raided the Manufactorums, taking with them machines, resources and other things they would need to produce their own Chimeras.

However, the planet had been devastated for too long when the fleet of Eagle Warriors had arrived with the support of another Imperial Battlefleet. What they had found was a planet whose population had been halved by war and by the powers of Chaos. The entire Capital Spire and its tens of millions had been wholly sacrificed to Diablo, though the Chapter's Librarians could not figure out to which god, for Diablo was not yet a real Chaos God. Then, there was the devastation left at the Caralix Shipyard. It was covered in such corruption that the Imperial Battlefleet was forced to incinerate and destroy it, weakening the sector further. A whole Battlefleet had been ransacked, a Sector Capital had been reduced to a planet beset by flames of war, and it was all thanks to the Captain Varamus of the Eagle Warriors. The holo-recording of his murder of the Sector Lord and the rest of the planet's military commanders put enormous pressure on the Chapter Master.

Despite the pleas of the Company's survivors and Librarian Gareon, the Chapter Master declared Captain Varamus to be a renegade who fallen into the hands of Chaos, and the survivors such as Gareon was forced through vigorous tests of purity before they were cleared for duty. This also had placed the Inquisition's eyes upon the Chapter, which had thus been above such suspicion.

* * *

"**Ha ha ha! Oh, Captain Varamus, I am sure that you would soon be declared a heretic and a renegade, never to return to the Imperium lest you be slain and the honor of your chapter shattered.**" Arthur spoke, his smile cracking wider though none could see the insidious sneer upon his face.

Varamus said nothing, his helmetless face vacant and drooling from the corner of his mouth. His mind was broken by so many nightmares that he had relived over and over until his soul cracked and shattered. Then, his arms and legs were cut off and cauterized, and he was turned into a sort of meat-pillow. He now lacked teeth, and his Betcher's Gland was removed along with his tongue.

"Well, he cannot speak, my lord, but I still cannot hear any whispers of his soul." Sh'raks replied, his sneer also clear in his tone.

"**Pathetic worm! He could not withstand a few hundred thousand nightmares,**" Arthur chuckled. "**Such is the weakness of a Loyalist.**"

"Indeed, my lord. Now, where are we going?" The Sorcerer asked.

"**We now go to my domains in the Magog Cluster. On Corcrya XI, I have former Mechanicus facility converted into daemonic tower where my Apothecaries are creating the implants for my new Chaos Marines.**" Arthur proudly declared, drawing a moan of surprise from the Sorcerer.

"I suppose those well-treated whelps in the lower decks are the novices that you wish to turn into Astartes." Sh'raks stated, gauging the reaction of his lord.

"**Indeed, Sh'raks. All one hundred thirty two of them, and that would be the first batch. Soon, we would have more, now that the sacrifice of the Capital Hive on Caralix III had provided me much needed souls.**" Arthur answered. "**It will be but a matter of time before my forces grow strong enough to assail other systems and worlds in the Maelstrom Zone.**"

"The Maelstrom Zone? You know that the Astral Claws under Huron Blackheart had tried that with more than a thousand Astartes and few allied Chapters as well. I can tell you that they have failed." Sh'raks replied.

"**I know. The Maelstrom Zone is an important region for the Imperium, and they shall not let it slide into my hands so easily, but I have all the time in the galaxy, and by the time I am ready to strike at the Maelstrom Zone, I shall be much more powerful that Huron's little uprising.**" Arthur declared.

"You would need strength enough to launch a whole Black Crusade for such feat."

"**Then I shall have such strength.**" Arthur growled. "**I would soon have means to summon forth a mighty army of well-equipped and trained Cultists and soldiers, while hundreds of corrupted Astartes shall rally under my banner.**"

"I shall trust in your dark wisdom, my lord El Sokauron. Let the galaxy despair at your coming." Sh'raks spoke a prayer and backed down from that line of inquiry.

"**Indeed! Now, how is our move to the 'Purveyor of Tribulation' coming on?**" Arthur demanded.

The 'Purveyor of Tribulation' was the new name for the 'Cardinal Sanctus', the Retribution-class Battleship that Arthur's forces had captured at Caralix Shipyard. It was indeed mighty, and its repairs were such that only minor adjustments were required to return it to its full strength.

Since the raid on Caralix III, Arthur's forces swelled to a great deal. He now had a proper fleet and many weapons and tools fit for Imperial Guards now arming the Cultists. Entire production lines and necessary equipments for making such weapons were also his, and once he sets them up aboard the 'Purveyer' or on his planets, he could arm all of his Cultists with weapons matching the Imperial Guards.

Moreover, he had consumed so many souls in sacrificing every living soul inside the Capital Spire of Caralix III that his amulet was full once more, despite the fact that each recharge cost more and more souls to satisfy the amulet. He really needed a Spirit Stone of an Eldar Farseer to increase the capacity of the amulet and to reset the recharge level.

"It is coming on very well, lord. We have found rooms for most of the production lines, and have set up slave-workforce to operate the machines and produce the weapons and armors." Sh'raks reported. "However, the Chaos Temple that you have erected in the heart of the 'Zion' is not something that I can move."

"**I shall take care of that.**" Arthur said.

"What would be the fate of the 'Zion of Despair'? It is fitted with thousands of daemons, and it would be a great loss to see it abandoned." Sh'raks said.

"**Why? Would you like to have the ship? Already attempting to gain your independence?**" Arthur asked in amusement.

Sh'raks quickly bowed in deference.

"Of course not, my lord. I was simply curious as to why such wonderful ship is wasted." Sh'raks defended his words.

"**In that case... More ships shall convert into the daemon ships like the Zion, and that includes the Purveyor.**" Arthur declared loudly. "**Then, all of the Imperium shall fear my Dreadfleet and the terror and despair it spreads across the stars.**"

"A truly laudable goal, my lord."

"**I grow tired of your empty flattery. Now, go do your work.**" Arthur commanded, and Sh'raks quickly disappeared from his chamber.

Arthur looked around and saw that there was no one else other than his five Chosen. During the fight against Captain Varamus of the Eagle Warriors, Arthur's Chaos Chosen had been decimated, ambushed by Terminators who slew the four Chaos Chosen that Arthur brought with him. However, Arthur deliberately took four because the fifth member was still aboard the Zion, and Arthur had hoped that those killed would be revived via the game's mechanism to keep the squad alive as long as it had one member remaining. Indeed, when the sole survivor of the Chaos Chosen came close to the Chaos Temple, Arthur could instruct it to refill its squad members, and the lost ones had returned at the cost of Requisition stored somewhere aboard the ship.

With his bodyguards back in full strength, Arthur decided that it was time to return to his original dimension to carry out the next phase of his plan.

"**Bring me three thousand lasguns with two spare magazines each, three thousand sets of Imperial Guardsmen Flak-armor, six mortal-use bolt pistols, six of the Loyalists' Scout Marine Carapace Armor, and six power swords taken from the fallen commissars.**" Arthur commanded his guards. "**Also, have the Techmarines produce and upgrade about three hundred Chimeras. I want them to remove any plasma technology. Make them inferior to the originals and keep from using plasma or laser technology, and do not use precious adamantium or ceramite. If they want, they can use plasteel for extra armor.**"

"Yes, lord."

"**Have the Techmarines replace the primary weapons with autocanon, and its secondary armament with the heavy machine gun. Add the pintle-mount with one of the lesser machine guns and remove the six lasguns on the back.**"

"Your will shall be done." The Chaos Chosen answered.

* * *

**END OF CHAPTER 24**


	25. Chapter 25

Sorry for the slow update. Here is the new chapter with our good-guy 'antagonist' Jake Adams.

Funny how the role reversal is working out. Arthur, while protagonist by technicality, is a villain in nature, while Jake is hero in nature but antagonist by the frequency of this appearance and such...

Anyway, next few chapters will be about Arthur's evil forces fighting Jake's teams, the Taskforce 999.  
(This includes a slight crossover with Crysis series, Company of Heroes series, CNC Tiberium Wars and CNC Red Alert 3)

Thanks for reading!

* * *

**Chapter 25**

**Earth**

**Russia**

**Hours after the defeat of Taskforce 999 by El Sokauron**

As Jake Adams stood there beneath the darkening sky slowly changing into crimson twilight in the ruins of the Russian factory where he and his team had laid down a trap for the mysterious terrorist 'El Sokauron', codename 'Chaos Lord', he could do nothing but sigh in a dreadful sense of defeat. He could see the dead and the wounded being carried away by the Russian military whose soldiers and medics swarmed over the wreckages that had been scattered all over the area.

The armored vehicles, so easily trashed and broken by the terrorist's hands, have been strewn about the ground, and the Russian military had escorted a dozen scientists trying to figure out how he did it. Jake had seen how the monster did it. He saw how the 'Chaos Lord' tore apart the tank with his HANDS! Jake sighed when his radio squelched twice then paused and squelched once more.

"Lighthouse, this is Witchdoctor. The mission is a failure." Jake spoke into the radio.

"You can say that again." Someone replied from behind Jake.

Jake turned around, and saw a man in US Army fatigues. The man had dark-brunette hair half turned grey and silver, but his arms were thick and well-muscled, making him look younger than his face with deep lines told. The man limped, as if his right leg was a burden. Jake knew what it was, and was surprised at the fact that the man could walk.

"Colonel." Jake nodded in recognition.

"Captain." The colonel replied.

"You know it was you who promoted me to a Major not few days ago." Jake chuckled darkly as he turned his gaze back to the ruins.

"Well, I still need some time to get use to you being a Major."

"Yeah." Jake muttered in agreement.

In fact, he felt strange about it too.

"So, we've failed." The colonel stated calmly.

"I'm guessing you have seen everything from afar in the safety of your command vehicle?" Jake raised an eyebrow as he gently rebuked his commander.

"Hey, mind the attitude, Major. It's not like I can fight with this leg. Hell, I wish I could be out in the field with you guys, but even with this new baby, I can't keep up with you youngsters anymore." The colonel defended himself, pulling up the right leg of his pants to reveal a highly mechanized prosthetic leg that gleamed in dark metallic paint.

Jake nodded. He knew that there was no real point in his rebuke. Colonel Malcolm Hayes had been a great warrior once, but ever since that operation in Syria, he was forced to sit behind a desk, running the operations rather than leading them. His right leg below his knee was lost, and he was no longer combat-worthy. Jake knew of it all, and though he regretted his careless and spiteful words, he could not take it back.

"Sorry."

"Pay it no mind, Major."

But Jake was angry. He was angry to have lost men, and he was angry that many had died at the hands of this lunatic. Jake sighed once more as he thought back to when he first met the 'Chaos Lord'.

* * *

_**FLASHBACK!**_

**Earth**

**USA**

**LA**

**Hours after the bank robbery**

Jake was helpless. He could do nothing but stand and watch as the charred remains of the LAPD headquarters was slowly picked and searched by the firefighters who had given up searching for survivors and now focused on recovering bodies. At first, the emergency response teams tried to rescue whoever was alive, but the explosion and the resulting fire had been too intense, and mixed with toxic gas from various petro-chemical products being set on fire had a detrimental effect on the few survivors who managed to climb out of that hell.

"What am I suppose to say to Amanda and Sharon?" Jake whispered to himself as he fondled the silver-cross that Jim the captain of the SWAT team had carried with him.

Amanda was Jim's beloved wife of twelve years, and Sharon was the child born out of wedlock between them, and when Sharon was two years old, they had finally tied the knot, with blessing from all parties. Jim and Amanda had lived a beautiful life, and their teenage daughter Sharon had been going through her adolescence without too much problem. Jim had been in the Army before his tour was up and he turned a cop. Jake and he had gone through the basic training together, and fate brought them back together.

Apart from Barry, Jim had been Jake's closest friend in the force. It wasn't that Jake was sociable, but there was an air about Jake that others were slow to trust. Particularly at first, Jake was silently ostracized for his military-bearings that went overboard a little too often. He was often investigated for cases of Police Brutality against gang members and such. It was Jim who helped Jake through such tough times using the memories of his tour in Afghanistan and the severe PTSD that he had suffered through after the tour.

Now, Jake had to tell Amanda and Sharon that their loving husband and father had been killed by a psychopath in a tin-can suit that bounced off bullets like he was being shot at by peashooters.

It wasn't only that Jim was killed by some sort of 'raygun' but there was more to Jake's self condemnation. He was helpless as a series of devastating and random bombing around California happened because he had failed to stop the madman. The destruction included the HQ of the LA's finest. That which was once the proud home of many hundreds of police officers who have worked there, protecting the public with their toils and sweat, had been turned to ashes and charcoal. They were supposed to protect the people from bombings and crazy psychos with 'raygun' shooting at them or chopping them with glowing swords. Yet, the police had failed. Jake had failed them.

Jake's feet brushed past the object that used be his own table, not turned charcoal that turned into a small pile of ash. Sighing, he touched the drawer only to have it crumble into black ash.

"Damn!" He grumbled as he picked up a small metallic case.

Opening it carefully, his face was quickly filled with chagrin as the photos shattered into tiny bits at the exposure to the air.

Suddenly, his phone rang, and it was from a number that he did not know.

"This is Detective Adams. Who is this?"

~Witchdoctor, this is Screwdriver. We need to talk.~ The voice said, making Jake instinctively stand to attention.

"Colonel. It has been a while, sir." Jake answered.

~It has been a while indeed, son. I hope you have been adapting well back into the civilian life?~ Jake's former commander asked.

"As good as can be expected. Look, colonel, I am not really in a situation to speak right now. We've just been..." Before he could finish speaking, the colonel interrupted.

~You've been bombed.~

"Yes, sir."

~Unlike you, I'm neither retired nor being planted as a sleeper agent. I'm jacked into a lot of things including the bombings in southern California and that the crazy-ass bank robbery that you were involved in.~ The colonel continued. ~You should not have risked yourself like that. The eggheads at DARPA won't like it.~

"Yes, sir. I understand, but my partner..." But Jake could not finish the sentence. It wasn't like him to answer back like this. "I understand, sir."

~Look, this line is not really secure. I have been ordered to reactivate you and bring you in for a debrief.~

"Debrief, sir? Is it about this 'El Sokauron' guy?" Jake asked.

~I'm afraid it is, Witchdoctor.~ The colonel called Jake's call sign again. ~I have a team from NSA coming to pick you up. Ident code is 'It's Cold Today', and the counter-sign is 'Bravo Bravo Window'. Do you copy, Witchdoctor?~

"I copy that, Screwdriver."

It was only hours before several men in suits came along.

"So, where are you guys from? CIA? FBI or the International Counter-terrorism Taskforce?" Jake casually asked, carefully inserting the password into the conversation.

"Actually, Big Bad Wolf sent us." One of the agents said, and Jake relaxed.

* * *

**Earth**

**USA**

**Area 9 – DARPA's Secret Base/Lab**

**Several days after the bank robbery**

"Gentlemen, let's start the briefing, shall we?" The President said.

Jake stood at the side of the conference room behind Colonel Hayes who sat at the side of a long table where other members of this briefing sat. At the end of the table was none other than the President of United States of America, guarded by a dozen Secret Service agents positioned around the room. Along the sides of the table were the National Security Advisor and the Secretary of Defence, and the directors of CIA and FBI. A five-star general, whom Jake identified as the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was there also, sitting across Colonel Hayes. Briefing them all was a lab-coat wearing scientist with a pair of thick rimmed glasses and retreating hairlines. Jake knew the man. The scientist was the administrator for the DARPA's most secretive divisions.

"Yes, sir. Doctor Tinswood, if you please?" The CJCS answered and looked at the Dr Tinswood.

"It's good to see you again, Mr President." The scientist tried to make a small talk, but no one was in the mood for it.

"Doctor, we are not here to exchange pleasantries. Begin the briefing." The POTUS chided the scientist, and so rebuked, Tinswood clicked the remote in his hand to change the wall-screen to the next picture.

Jake gritted his teeth as the photo of 'El Sokauron' appeared in the middle of the screen, where the photo was obviously taken at the scene of the bank robbery.

In El Sokauron's hands were the glowing sword and the 'raygun' that killed so many. Jake hated the guy, but he knew that challenging this psycho was not going to be easy because of the weapons, and that thick armor that bounced off bullets.

"As you all know, this individual known to us as 'El Sokauron' has set off a series of bombings across southern California including the HQ of the LAPD, and he has committed murders of many police officers of LAPD. The reason that all of you," Tinswood's eyes grazed over those gathered, including Jake. "have come here is that your normal channels came up with nothing regarding this individual, and only here at DARPA that you expect to find some ridiculous but correct information and theories about this... murderer."

The POTUS nodded.

"That is indeed why we have come here, Doctor. Now, the NSA, CIA and FBI and so many others have searched and failed, and I am hoping you have some... plausible theories." The President said.

"Yes, Mr President, we do have a theory." The scientist declared.

"Then tell us, Doctor."

Tinswood nodded to his assistant, who quickly handed out briefing materials to those involved, including Jake.

Tinswood clicked his remote again, and this time, the screen split between the photo of El Sokauron and a picture of a plastic figure mounted upon a circular pad decorated with dirt. Jake thought that the two pictures looked very similar. In fact, it was like someone had made a plastic figurine of El Sokauron.

"This is a 'Chaos Lord' from a tabletop game called 'Warhammer 40K', made by a gaming company 'Games Workshop' in UK." Tinswood stated, and he paused for the meaning of his words to set in.

"Wait... What?" The Secretary of Defense stuttered.

"Are you telling me this god-damned terrorist is a guy in costume?" The National Security Adviser shouted.

Jake was flabbergasted as well. Then again, he could see the resemblance between the armor and weapons of El Sokauron and the plastic miniature that was compared to the psychopath.

The room was quickly filled with murmurs of men, whose mind could not accept such ridiculous theory. They began to read through some of the pages, and that just made them angrier.

"Doctor, I'm sure the US government does not pay DARPA its secret funding so that you could tell us this kind of sick joke." The CIA director growled.

However, Tinswood was not fazed.

"I understand that this sounds ridiculous, but it is actually a very plausible theory," He claimed. "Particularly so since we have dabbled in the Dimensional Barrier technology."

The President paled.

"What are you saying, Doctor? This is our fault?" He spoke in low voice.

"We do not know that yet, Mr President."

At Tinswood's answer, everyone looked at the POTUS. He sighed and looked at the scientist again.

"Doctor, I think you need to explain your theory from the beginning... including the Dimensional Barrier project." The President said, gesturing his Secret Service agents to leave the room.

* * *

"Has anyone heard about the idea that a great idea comes from a sudden vision, a flash of ideas that spark off so much?" Tinswood asked, but it was a rhetorical question. "It happens to be true to some degree. What these brilliant minds such as Mozard or Picasso created were pale shadows of what they had heard or seen through the dimensional barrier."

Tinswood spoke as if everyone knew what 'dimensional barrier' was, but he had been doing this for a long time, and knew to explain.

"Now, there is a theory in physics that tells us that there are infinite numbers of parallel dimensions that exist, separated only by dimensional barriers that differentiate them." He spoke, but people still did not understand.

"Alright... hmmm." He placed the remote on the table. "See this remote? Now, the dimension we currently exist has the future where I do this."

He moved the remote a little forward.

"However, when I decided to move this remote, there was a possibility that I could have moved the remote another way, like this."

He moved the remote back and to the side a little.

"When I made this decision to move the remote a certain way, the decision has thousands of possibilities, but only one is seen by us, and that is the dimension we live in. However, at the same time, entire parallel dimensions are formed where I moved the remote in another way or tilt the angle a little or even where I fumble. Each of those possibilities creates a parallel dimension."

Now, people began to understand a little, though they were still not quite ready to believe Tinswood's explanations.

"Of course, all this was only a theory until about twenty years ago. Approximately twenty years ago, we have theorized that with enough energy and technology, we could pierce the barrier between parallel dimensions. We were given the funding and support for this experiment because we convinced the administration at the time that we could grab some advanced technology from parallel dimensions with more advanced technologies." Tinswood explained. "We've managed to thin the dimensional barrier enough to observe the other side, but we realized that we could not pierce the barrier itself unless we have powerful-enough psionic energy, which no one in current human evolution can produce."

"What have you learned from the project?" The President asked.

"We've gone through at least twenty such parallel universes until the time we have ended the program, and they include some that have come to exist as various games and comics and novels."

People gathered were surprised.

"Do you mean... You have seen those science fiction technologies?" The CIA director asked in surprise.

"Yes, director." Tinswood nodded and clicked the remote to show a personal armor in split screen, compared to another suit of armor.

"This is the 'nanosuit' from a game called Crysis series, but this other armor is the armor that we have developed over the last ten years or so, after observing the parallel dimension." The scientist pointed to the screen. "It is but an example of many things, including some of the technologies we now use in smart phones, our defense systems and such."

Now that he has explained the relation between the dimensional barrier theory and the military applications, the men around the conference room began to nod.

"That sounds good. If such are military application, I would like to restart the program. Why was it shut down?" The President asked.

"Unfortunately, Mr President, it is not advisable to restart the program. On our twenty first encounters, we began to see some negative effects of our intentional thinning of dimensional barrier. Also, on that experiment, we also encountered a character from comic books called Doctor Stephen Strange, the Sorcerer Supreme. Upon our research, he happened to be the most powerful magical being from a comic books. The info on Doctor Strange is on page twenty five," Tinswood explained as he pointed out the page in the report. "and as you can see, Doctor Strange is not someone to be trifled with."

He waited for a moment for everyone to read about Strange.

"He warned us that a universe like ours is called a Hub Universe, where we are connected to many different parallel dimensions, which means that thinning the dimensional barrier like we have done so... could have some catastrophic... consequences."

"Such as this 'El Sokauron', doctor?" Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff asked.

"Yes, and he could be just one of many beings capable of piercing the thinned dimensional barrier."

"If El Sokauron is but the beginning of a flood of such evil and terrifyingly powerful beings, we are not ready for it." The seasoned general commented, and he was supported by the National Security Adviser, and this made the POTUS frown.

"Is there anything we can do to protect ourselves from further invasions, doctor Tinswood?" POTUS asked, and Tinswood nodded grimly.

"We have managed to stop further degradation of dimensional barrier, though we cannot do anything about the dimensions we've connected to twenty years ago. In any case, we have managed to acquire a number of technologies that would help us against El Sokauron or any other dimensional invaders." Tinswood quickly explained. "One of those defenses are already in place, and our Captain Adams here is not only here as a witness but also as an example of our Creation of Advanced Soldier Program, also known as CASP."

POTUS flinched before staring at Jake, and Jake felt uncomfortable. It appeared that POTUS knew what Jake was.

"You brought a psionic into the same room as us, doctor? Do you know the kinds of secrets that must not be known to anyone else could be stolen by that man?" POTUS' voice began to rise.

"Mr President, I assure you that Captain Adams has no telepathy or mind-reading capability, and his ability of limited prescience can only be activated into useful level with the proper equipment, sir." Tinswood quickly intervened.

POTUS calmed down a little, but kept a wary eye upon Jake.

"Very well, doctor. If you have brought Captain... Adams and Colonel Hayes into the briefing, then I assume that it means that the defenses you are talking about involves the Taskforce 999." POTUS said, his eyes narrowing with dangerous gleam. "You have long lobbied for the full activation of Joint Taskforce 999, but your request has been denied thus far... However... in the face of such... such monster as this El Sokauron... I shall have to reconsider my previous decision."

"Thank you, Mr President."

"Go on with the briefing about the dimensional barrier and this El Sokauron. We will talk about the 999 after."

"Yes, sir."

* * *

The briefings and discussions continued throughout the afternoon and into the evening. The President and other important members of the government took dinner breaks and such, and Jake slipped out to take a breather. He went to a vending machine and put into some coins for a can of soda. Then something made him turn around.

"Mr President, sir!" Jake quickly stood to attention and saluted his commander-in-chief.

The President looked at him for a while, then let out a sigh.

"At ease, Captain."

Jake did so, but his form remained perfect even in his 'at ease' posture. Shaking his head lightly, the President bent down, reached forth and grabbed Jake's can of soda.

"I am sure I have hurt your feelings back there, Captain."

"No, sir! I am fully aware of exactly how dangerous it is to have a mind-reader in the room with the POTUS, sir." Jake answered, hoping his answer could satisfy the man.

"Yeah... Exactly, Captain Adams. It was not about you being a psionic. I apologize for the remark." The President apologized, and Jake was stunned. "I am a man of open mind, and unlike my Republican predecessor, I am acutely aware of what it means to practice tolerance. I see you being psionic as merely like having blue eyes or curly hair, a simple mutation that is inherent in all mankind."

"But, with all due respect, sir, it is not the same." Jake answered. He didn't like where this conversation was going.

"May be, but I'd like to think that you and your fellow psionic soldiers are still human, and still capable of being human." The President said, his voice driving deep into Jake's thoughts. "In being human, we are all same, Captain Adams. I hope you remember it when things become bad."

"Thank you, Mr President."

"Oh, here's your soda."

After the President was gone, Jake stood there, his gaze on the unopened can of soda in his hand. It was minutes later that Colonel Hayes had come out from the room.

"Jake." The Colonel called, and Jake turned to his superior officer.

"Sir."

"You are officially being recalled and returned to your former unit at the Joint Taskforce 999. We are getting the teams back together." Hayes said with a smile.

"Teams, sir? Just the Alphas or the Betas as well?" Jake asked.

"Beta teams are also being assembled. The NP (non-psionic) troops are also being fitted."

"Marines and Rangers?" Jake asked, knowing what kind of elite soldier are given such advanced technology.

"They can't handle this. We are getting some Seals and Spec Ops guys." Hayes commented, making Jake nod. "As for you and your teams, we are reactivating the HOG."

HOG was the acronym for the Hyper Oxygenated Gravity chambers, and it referred to a special training rooms in the DARPA lab that Jake and his teammates had been experimented upon and then given the powers that he had now. The training inside was excruciating, but combined with drugs and other technologies, Jake and his team became more deadly than humanly possible.

"For how long?" Jake asked.

"Well, hopefully the enemy will give us some breather according to Dr Tinswood. El Sokauron may have some trouble conjuring forth more of his troops any time soon, and we have however long that may be." Hayes said. "We are trying to retrieve the rest of the team back together, but that's going to take a few days. Let's just hope..."

Before Hayes could finish his sentence, his cell phone rang. The colonel looked at the caller with a frown before taking the call.

"This is Colonel Hayes. What?"

Jake narrowed his eyes at Hayes' reaction.

"Shit!" Hayes swore as he ended the call.

"What is it, sir?"

"We've received words that El Sokauron is on the move. He has been stealing military hardware across the planet."

"Military hardwares, sir?"

"They are preparing a briefing back at the base." Hayes answered. "I think you need to get yourself something warm to wear."

"Sir?" Jake asked in puzzlement.

"The analysts think that Russia will be hit next. I'm sending you there once the briefing is over."

Jake cracked a smile.

* * *

**END OF CHAPTER 25**


	26. Chapter 26

Well, there is some dark themes in this chapter, but then again, this is a very dark story. Just remember that it's Arthur vs Jake, but with their roles reversed. We are seeing the whole thing from the BAD GUY's point of view.

This chapter is a little longer than others, so enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter 26**

**Earth**

**Los Angeles**

**3 months after defeat of Taskforce 999 in Russia**

Arthur smiled as he looked at himself in the mirror. It was a perfect disguise. He was wearing the finest suit he could afford, and he could afford quite a lot now that his 'parents' Jonathan and Clara Martin were turned into mindless drones under the control of his psychic might. It had been a while since he had them under his thumb, but he still needed them out there to put a decent appearance. So, for a few months, his parents began to settle their affairs, particularly in terms of their monetary assets and their extramarital affairs. To the outside world and their friends, Arthur's parents finally grew up, understood their responsibility their son and to each other. Eventually, Jonathan 'made' the decision to retire, cashing in several of his stock portfolio, except those that Arthur deemed to have some good potential. Clara also finalized her things in ways that it did not look like she is about to commit suicide or something. Soon, the Mr and Mrs Martin were off to their 'second honeymoon' to everywhere they wanted to go in their bucket-list, which they proclaimed was written when they were first married. The large yacht, which was the den of Jonathan Martin's torrid drug-fueled orgies with young college girls, was now redecorated so that it would be suitable for the middle-aged couple's new journey into the rest of their lives.

Unfortunately, Arthur was far from kind. If original Arthur was a psychopath with empty slate, the current Arthur, the Lord El Sokauron, was the epitome of irrational cruelty, overwhelming malice and sadistic mania. After sending his parents in a grand farewell party where all the friends of Mr and Mrs Martin were invited, he made connections to each of the invited guests, thinking to use these connections to his benefit later. The large yacht was soon met with a strange and sudden storm in the Pacific Ocean long before the arrival of the storm season. The remnants of the yacht was discovered weeks later, and the funeral of the two 'respected' members of society was indeed a great deal and their son, Arthur, was the talk of the town. After all, Arthur just became the heir to an estimated fortune of nearly eighty million dollars, not including the controlling shares in the two companies that his parents worked.

"Hello, Jonathan. How is everything? I hope the view from where you are hanging is quite nice." Arthur chuckled as he picked up one of the medical scalpels neatly placed on a metal plate. "You are still wondering how I implanted your eyes into Clara's head and still let you see through those eyes, but it is not something a mere mortal like you can understand."

Dressed in a nice suit with narrow cut and a single vent, Arthur moved gracefully around the naked man hanging from the ceiling by a set of chains skewered through hands and the flesh of the man's back. The victim of this terrible imprisonment moaned as his lidless eyes rolled about in panic. Arthur merely smiled cruelly as he gently ran the scalpel across the skin of the man's thigh. Even though the blade only touched lightly, the skin was cut and it bled. The victim screamed so loudly that the walls seemed to vibrate in equal torment, but the Chaos Lord in mortal form did not find it debilitating at all.

"Oh, you are in pain but I thought you would be quite use to it now. After all, I have pulled out your testicles, shattered your bones, set your nerves on fire and then skinned your torso until I could see every fiber of your chest muscle. There shouldn't be too much sanity left in that little skull of yours..." Arthur mused as he nonchalantly stabbed the scalpel into the bleeding thigh of the older man and tapped the side of the victim's head, where the skin and flesh had been removed and white skull was showing from just beyond the edges of the forehead.

Suddenly, Arthur spun around and looked at the other end of that chamber, where a woman of middle age but still well-maintained body, was hanging like the man that Arthur was just tormenting. She too had been terribly mangled beyond a human's capability of suffering. Arthur walked up to her and then picked up an awl on the bench, and stuck it into what appeared to be a thick red rope.

"How are you, Clara? I hope you can feel that awl piercing your large intestine. I made sure that your nerves grew upon the surface of your intestines so that you can feel every time I played with your guts, now spread out like this." The cruel torturer asked the woman as she attempted to say something through her toothless, tongue-less and throat-less mouth that had now been reconnected to her own rectum which had also been pulled out and rearranged.

Arthur simply chuckled as the woman's lungs let out a shrieking whistle from the pair of holes in the middle of her breasts that had been cut and its flesh rearranged into a floral pattern. Her lungs drew air directly from that, and they functioned not by the design of the nature but by the dark and terrible will of a Chaos Lord.

"It never ceases to amaze me that I came from this tiny blob of flesh." Arthur traced his finger over Clara's ovaries and womb, now cut out and displaced on the wall between Jonathan and Clara. "It is truly astounding how such flawed mortals as you could give birth to the greatest evil that this planet has ever seen."

He chuckled.

"You are wondering why I am doing all these terrible things to you, aren't you? I am torturing you for information and I am not going easy with mutilations. Then I have this power that keeps you alive and sane despite the weeks of unrelenting torture sessions. You must be going crazy with curiosity... or at least going crazy."

Arthur smiled so wide and so innocently that for a moment, the two tortured humans thought they saw an angel, but then such thoughts vanished as quickly as it had appeared once they again saw the boundless malice within Arthur's eyes.

"It must make you so curious as to why your beloved son is doing all this to you, mom and dad. I can tell you only one truth about this." Arthur panned as he looked into their eyes. "I enjoy inflicting torment, and it is not just you. You must have heard the endless screams from other cells around here. My experiments do involve men, women and children, and I would violate their flesh and soul as I twist them into things of horror. Does it not make you proud, father? Does it not make you swell with joy to see me thus, mother?"

Then Arthur's eyes suddenly flared up in dark indigo, and his voice turned into the voice of the Chaos Lord, and his body grew in size.

"Does it not make you... afraid?"

* * *

These horrific acts, however, were but a part of minor hobby that Arthur carried out as he set his real plans into action.

Gangs across the west coast of USA were gathering under his banner, and in total secrecy. It was a difficult job even for Arthur, but he needed this to be kept quiet. Scores of local gangs were suddenly funded with millions of dollars across the entire west coast then the trend continued down to south where the most extreme of rednecks and racists and gun-loving lunatics began to form organized groups. Small groups of families and groups who vehemently opposed the federal government were quickly brought out from their bomb-shelter basements and brought into the fold of Arthur's organization. On the outside, the police had no idea what was going on as the random bombings across the entire west coast, including the quiet Washington state, had kept their attentions elsewhere. Instead, the people cheered on as the crime rate began to fall all over the west, and soon the south also saw fall in crime rate, particularly in violent crimes. Little did they know that it was just a terrible calm before a malicious tempest of violence.

An eerie silence descended upon the world. It was as if everyone felt that little tinkling foreboding feeling at the back of their skulls. The life seemed to go on with no seeming problem. The newspapers reported that Alan Ross, the Chief Finance Officer and major shareholder of Maross Investment suffered a terrible heart-attack while driving his SUV back to his house after having dinner and drinks with three other shareholders and co-founders of Maross Investment. For a while, the company's stock prices fell dramatically, and several investors began to pull out their funds. After all, with the early retirement and subsequent demise of Jonathan Martin, the founder and CEO of the Maross Investment, the company's reputation was foisted upon the shoulders of the remaining four co-founders, and the deaths of Ross, Hoedecker, Berson and Fogarty had cost the company a great deal. Then Arthur somehow managed to convince each of the Ross, Hoedecker, Berson and Fogarty estates to either sell their shares or accept him as the proxy. With his original 14% stake in the company added with Ross' 11% then the power of proxy from each of the three estates allowed Arthur to assume control of the company with a healthy 50.2% of the company.

Of course, Arthur didn't really know much about running the business, and he did not care to spend time learning them. Instead, he ripped the knowledge from his father's mind before he even started on torturing the man. Ripping out the knowledge from Ross, Hoedecker, Berson and Fogarty just before sending the car off the bridge was also quite useful too. Within days, he was quickly ascended into the seat of CEO and the Chairman of the Board, and while the Board protested, Arthur made a decision to have a Scott Hallet, a brilliant Chief Operating Officer who used to work for another investment firm before Arthur 'convinced' the man to be headhunted. Then before the Board could say another word, Arthur presented them with a new and powerful client.

Alex O'Connell of Connell Industries came all the way from New York and signed a deal to invest one hundred million dollars of Connell Industries money and ten million from O'Connell estate.

It appeared that the events that happened in Vegas had cleared up since Alex had sold his soul to Arthur and had a daemon implanted inside him. The loan-shark Mikael Rompson had quietly relinquished everything he had taken from O'Connell, and then invested nearly five million dollars from the phoney shell company he owned to Connell Industries. Then, O'Connell had a great streak of winnings. His winnings at the Blackjack reached nearly a hundred thousand dollars while his poker game had a dramatic overturn when his opponent made a critical mistake at a very bad time. Not long after that, just as he was leaving the casino escorted by the casino's guards, he used the last of his coins on a slot machine, which gave him a jackpot of nearly five million dollars. He did not only recover all his money, he had made profit, and then to make the pot sweeter, he received phone call from New York.

His brother Marcus O'Connell and Alex's wife Amy Janson O'Connell had been found dead in Alex's house when a group of armed robbers stormed the house and tried to steal things. The robbery went bad and the cops were called and the three robbers were shot dead. However, when the police went inside the house to finish up, they found the naked couple riddled with bullets and Marcus' penis inside Amy. Alex seized the chance and made a few calls to the Board of his company, and given the salaciousness of Marcus' deeds and how his motives could have driven the younger brother to 'frame' Alex into a gambling addict, the Board agreed to reinstate Alex back as CEO and as the Chairman of the Board. When Alex had returned to New York, he had with him a list of new investors to his company, which including the shell company of Rompson and some other associates that Arthur had created during his stay in Vegas. Also, Alex came with several specs for improved technology that he had bought, which would launch the Connell Industries into a new era of prosperity.

"Good morning, Mr Martin!"

That was the voice of Sharon. Sharon was the secretary hired by the Maross Investment to serve young Arthur Martin, the newly appointed CEO and Chairman of the Board who is the son of late Jonathan Martin, the founder and former CEO of the company. Sharon had been a good student and she even went to Princeton, though she was not really that smart to continue study law, but it did give her enough education to make her a paralegal, and now a well-paid secretary to a multi-millionaire playboy who inherited the company.

"Good morning, Sharon. Any calls for me?" Arthur replied in a cool but charming tone that made her silently swoon over the twenty seven year old man.

"I have a call from the Hoedecker Estate, sir. It's their lawyer, Alvin Volks. He wanted to talk to you about the selling a part of the Hoedecker Estate's share in the company." Sharon explained. "I have had the legal team bring up necessary briefing package for your review."

"Thanks, Sharon. You are always a great help." Arthur answered back, and each syllable of his words made her heart beat that much harder. "I will need about half hour to read through this, so could you have Lionel from the legal team and Mr Hallman to come to my office in thirty five minutes?"

Sharon quickly made mental notes. Lionel was the head of the company's legal team, and a constant presence around the CEO's office in recent times. Lionel Albright had been the part of the Maross Investment's attempt to revitalize the company after the tragic loss of Jonathan Martin, the founder and CEO of the company, which was quickly followed by equally senseless deaths of the four other co-founders, Alan Ross, Peter Hoedecker, Hans Berson and Joe Fogarty. The deaths of these giants were a terrible loss to the company. The accounts and the personal connections they had held in their hands had been more than sixty percent of the company's total clientele, and nearly half of those had been lost within weeks of the deaths.

When young Arthur Martin, the son of Jonathan Martin, attempted to use his shares to control the company, there had been much resistance, but then even as their stock prices fell sharply, the Ross Estate decided to liquidate their 13% share to Arthur, and Hoedecker, Berson and Forgaty Estates gave Arthur the power of proxy, effectively adding another slice of shares in Arthur's control. Then Arthur spent some money secretly buying up a little of shares in public hands, and he now controlled a majority of the company, giving him unprecedented power. In a blindingly quick move, he commandeered the control of the company from the remaining board members. He took his father's title of Chief Executive Officer and Hoedecker's position of the Chairman of the Board, while he promoted someone to replace Alan Ross as the Chief Financial Officer and had Scott Hallet to take the position of the Chief Operating Officer which was once Berson's. Fogarty's public relations position was taken by someone headhunted, but Arthur was planning to seduce him later. His second move was to fire the law firm that the company dealt with and hired a new one.

The law firm, Hadley Price & Albright, had sent Lionel Albright, the eldest son of Maurice Albright. Of course, Lionel was a close friend of Arthur, or at least that's what people thought so when they saw them together. This was because they never knew how Lionel Albright had been snorting cocaine near to death a few months ago in Las Vegas, and gambling away much of his future inheritance. Arthur had been in Vegas at the time, and along with Alex Connell, Arthur preyed upon others such as Lionel Albright. Lionel Albright had turned around since then, and had become a great lawyer since, much to the pride of his aging father. Of course, only Arthur knew that Lionel had been prowling the streets and kidnapping prostitutes and eating their livers every fortnight.

"You asked for us, Mr Martin?" Emil Hallman, the new CFO, asked as he came into Arthur's office along with Lionel Albright.

"Yes, come in."

The two men came in, and Sharon quickly followed them in with three cups of coffee and a small plate of French toast.

"Thanks, Sharon." Arthur thanked her politely, and Emil thought Arthur was not at all like the rumors were that he was a recluse and a mentally unstable boy.

"So, with Hoedeckers wanting to sell me half of their shares in the company, there is virtually no one who can oppose what I want to do with the direction of this company's investments." Arthur concluded as the others finished reading the briefing.

"I shouldn't think so." Emil said, and Lionel nodded.

"Good. Now, about our current liquid assets, what's the latest?" Arthur asked Emil.

"Well, despite losing several key investors, we are still hauling about sixty million dollars in cash, and two hundred twenty million already locked into various investment portfolios." Emil answered as he quickly handed Arthur a piece of paper with summarized version of what he had said.

"I see, and here is a list of companies I wish to invest the money in, but before we can invest our client's money, we need to run some background checks. Lionel?" Arthur now turned to his lawyer.

"We have run through most of the companies on the list, and we do have some concerns with a few." The handsome blonde lawyer said. "We have a few companies whose products contain chemicals that may cause cancer, and some companies use questionable labor sources."

"What do you mean 'questionable labor sources'? You mean like illegal immigrants?" Emil asked, pausing from reading the documents.

"More along the lines of forced child labor, sweat shops and possible connection with the Triad, the Chinese gangsters."

"Well, we cannot do business with them. It would be unethical." Emil declared, and in that moment, he could not see Arthur's tiny sneer.

"It would be unethical if we missed an opportunity to greatly increase the returns on our investment, because that money isn't really ours. It is our job to invest the money of our clients, and if it had been my money, I would not invest in such companies even if it meant less profit. However, it is not my money, so we must do what is right thing to do... If these companies show the probability of good financial return, then by all means, we must invest." Arthur answered, and Emil paused for a moment, then he was quickly convinced of the logic.

"I suppose you are right. It isn't our job to play philosophy with our client's money."

Arthur seemed pleased that he was able to convince Emil.

"Please, have a read through the companies, and give me any thoughts, Emil." The young CEO asked.

"Well, I can see a big problem right away here. It says right here that if we are to gain maximum return on our investment, we must have a strategic control over certain percentage of primary produces, including cobalt and zinc." Emil said as he ran over the number with his finger. "Even your estimates require us to spend nearly one hundred million dollars. Considering some overlapping areas we have in terms of investments in the commodities market, we would still need around thirty million dollars more, and that's not even including the necessary expenses."

"Necessary expenses?" Arthur asked, secretly getting frustrated at the little man.

"Well, going ahead of this plan would require a lot of sundry expenditures, and I would suggest we need at least five million dollars more." Emil concluded.

"How about tapping into the company's discretionary fund or the emergency fund?" Lionel suggested but Emil shook his head.

"Since the deaths of our founders, the company is in dire straights, and we've been spending the discretionary fund to pay employee salaries. Where did you think the fifty thousand dollars we pay your law firm every month come from?" Emil ranted, and Arthur frowned.

"I will find some new clients of my own, Emil. Don't worry about it."

Once Emil had left, it was only Arthur and Lionel remained, and then their demeanor changed dramatically. Arthur's angelic smiles and kind eyes had so drastically shifted into a monstrous and sadistic frown that would have sent shivers down the spines of others who saw it. The change was even more evident on Lionel's handsome womanizing face, and when the eyes turned utterly indigo and his forked tongue hissed out from his mouth, he was a truly beast-like, perhaps like a lizard-man from myths.

"Lionel." Arthur growled out his servant's name.

"Yess, master?"

"It would appear that Mr Hallman may soon outlive his usefulness."

That was all that was needed to be said.

"Soon, my lord?"

"Quite soon."

"Yess, my lord."

* * *

While the control of Maross Investment was quickly given to Arthur, thus giving him the control of over three hundred million dollars to invest as he deemed fit, the control of Clara's company was not so easy. Not only did Clara only own a mere 4% of the company's share, the company was a subsidiary of a large fashion magazine. However, the brainless dullards who worked at such companies were easily manipulated and controlled by the Chaos Sorcerer in the disguise of a handsome, charming and wealthy man. There wasn't too much Arthur wanted to do there, but subtle hints and new connections were all he wanted. His influence continued to spread into the company. He expected that next trend would have skirts a little shorter, t-shirts a little tighter and emphasizing the breasts and perhaps a new brand appealing to teenage females may happen. All he needed to do was to nudge them into the direction he wanted. Promoting sexual promiscuity in teenagers was just one step, and the connections to the mass media he made through this company would bring him a step closer into corrupting the people of this world.

There were terrible evil in the world, and Arthur just wanted to make it worse.

"I should prepare for the first strike." Arthur mused as he started at the large map of the world on his wall.

Although he knew that his enemies on Earth were preparing for him to make the next move, and this waiting game was giving them more time to prepare, Arthur did not care about them. He knew that his enemies were far from understanding the true danger he posed to this world.

"Let's see... I have the land purchased here." He ran his finger over the map, and pointed to Montana.

Where his finger used to touch was left with smoldering indigo flame that did not burn the map but simply sizzled there.

"My dark pentagram is almost complete, too." He muttered, this time letting his finger draw a circle.

On the dark line that made the circle were five states that included the five focal points of the pentagram. North Dakota contained the top point, while the New Mexico and Arkansas were the bottom two points, and the Wyoming and Wisconsin were the last two. There, the five points of the star glowed in their foreboding presence.

"Hmm... Assailing USA only is really useless at this point... I need an excuse to go to Russia. Yes, I shall be meticulous in my corruption of this holy world." Arthur muttered to himself, his devious and evil brain calculating every eventuality he could think of. "Indeed... Siberia, Africa, Brazil, Middle East, China and India... that should do... and leave Europe and Australia as the last vestige of uncorrupted humans, and that should provide me with fresh uncorrupted cattle to slaughter." Arthur chuckled as his finger drew circles all over the map.

"Layers upon layers of treacheries will dance across the Land of Freedom like wildfire set ablaze with plenty of fuel. Then again, America does have its share of powder kegs..." Arthur whispered as he looked at the map.

"My lord? You have called for me?" Lionel Albright entered Arthur's office.

"Yes, Lionel. I need you to set phase one into action, with additions." Arthur commanded.

"Of course, my lord." Lionel bowed, his eyes now glittering in dark indigo.

Arthur looked down at Lionel's bowed form and turned his back to the minion.

"Have you secure the shell companies and fronts to sell the gold?" The Dark Lord demanded.

"Yes, my lord. Everything is in place. Upon the sale of the gold, the money shall be paid to eleven separate accounts in the Cayman Islands, then transferred to Switzerland, and then moved across Russia, then back to America, and the money will go through one hundred fifty six separate accounts spread across three banks, and continued to transfer until there is so much transaction fee that the final arrival will have mere few hundred dollars." Lionel explained.

"Ah... The three banks are the ones under my control?" Arthur asked with a wide smile.

"Yes, sir. Maross Investments currently holds majority shares in two of the banks, and the third one's Board Members are..."

"They are my thralls... Yes... This is good. I will have legitimate funds to work my plans."

"Now, with that fund, and the additional investments soon to be ours, we shall begin our aggressive foray into M&A business." Lionel chuckled sadistically.

Arthur paused.

"Do not underestimate these... Americans. They may track down the link between the companies and us."

"I assure you, my lord, that by the time they realize the connection, we shall have all we need to break them."

"Excellent." Arthur growled his approval as he sat back down on his chair.

"You mentioned that you wished to include some new items?" Lionel asked as took out his iPad.

"I know I talked about the agricultural business and the real-estate, but I need you to add communications as well as something that would allow me to travel to other countries with legitimate business, particularly to those locations." Arthur pointed to the map on the wall, and the locations outside USA glowed.

"Hmm... For Russia and Middle East, we could always purchase something along the lines of oil and gas." Lionel replied as he tapped into his iPad.

"Yes... These humans and their greed for fuel is... surprisingly like us. Now, what about Africa and South America? Surely, there cannot be enough oil to justify such trips?"

"You would be surprised, my lord. South America do supply quite a large portion of USA's oil supply, but I think we can extend our agricultural business excuse to the areas also." The corrupted lawyer claimed.

"China and India?"

"We can acquire an IT business, and outsource the workforce, and your excuse would be to check out the local reactions... and we can smoothly go over to China and talk about the industrial manufacturing." Lionel paused. "However, if your intention is to mask your traveling to hide the link to whatever that would happen later, I would suggest that you travel to Europe after Russia, and lay down misleading tracks."

"Yes... Deception can be useful here."

"I would suggest Middle East first, then move on to Russia, then Europe, ending with some time in London as well. Financial sectors are also strong there. It would be a perfect disguise for your trips."

Arthur nodded.

"Good. After that?"

"Then you return to America, perhaps purchasing an apartment in New York, solidifying the preparation for the diversionary attack." Lionel commented as he ran his finger from London to New York.

"The Harlem and its gangs are firmly within my hands. Their internal rage against the inherent racism and the terrible standard of life that their people live in has been a fertile ground upon which the black roots of despair grow." Arthur explained. "Even as we speak, the hidden basements of their strongholds are being filled up with weapons."

"Will that be enough? Even if you bring every member of every gang in New York, it will not stand up against the National Guards that will certainly be sent against your forces." Lionel said.

"Do not worry about that. The gangs are but the local forces that will coordinate with my army."

"Army? What army do you have here, my lord?"

"An army of the past, and of the alternate." Arthur smiled wickedly.

"I do not understand."

"You do not need to, Lionel. Just watch it happen."

* * *

**Earth**

**12 months after defeat of Taskforce 999 in Russia**

Time went by, and America and the world spent its time squabbling over little things, and only few who knew the darkest secrets of behind veils of ignorance sought to prepare for the inevitable war. Very few things changed as the months went by, and the military forces silently but surely increased their readiness.

In Washington, the US House of Representatives railed against the President and the current administration as the budget went deep red. The current administration's spending priority changed over the last several months, and he gained several Republican supporters and lost his fellow Democrats over the military spending suddenly jacked up to a new high. A dozen porkbarrel promises were discarded, much to the wailings and nashing of teeth from the Senators and Congressmen who wanted them, but thanks to the healthy support from the Republicans who could not believe their eyes when the Democrat President wanted add military spending, the President finally got the budget through. The added two hundred billion dollars in military spending was the largest increase ever since the previous World War, and the reporters were sniffing for the reason.

In terms of economy, the US found itself heading away from recession and toward a boom. This was mostly thanks to several companies that have shown immense growth and success across several industrial sectors. First and the most important was the establishment of Amoil Energy, a relatively new company set up by merging three minor oil companies that failed due some mysterious circumstances, including a shooting incident where the CEO of one of the company somehow acquired AK-47 and a Glock pistol, and systematically hunted down everyone in the office before he was shot dead by the police. Amoil's purchase of a large tract of Indian Ocean off Australia's west coast had originally been criticized by its public shareholders who owned nearly 46% of the company. This quickly turned the shareholders against the company's future, dropping the share prices, which the company bought back, reducing the public shareholders to mere 22%. Then, something amazing happened. Amoil struck gold, or more accurately, the black gold. On the fifth drilling, the Amoil struck its first oil, while the second and third oil deposits were also found within their area.

The media contributed the success of Amoil Energy in successfully finding, drilling and extracting the crude oil from the area to the sudden breakthrough in related technology, whose patents belonged to Emmerson High Tech Labs, a privately owned R&D company. The Maross Investments, had 78% control of the Emmerson High Tech Labs, and such fact was, of course, secret. Then Amoil struck several more big hits, including two oil and gas deposits off the coast of Oman, three gas and one oil deposits in Russia. Suddenly, the company's share prices skyrocketed. From mere $0.42 just few months before, the Amoil quickly became a stock market's dream, and was selling at $452.10. Within a month, the company worth mere $47 million had become a monster worth $49.7 billion dollars, an increase of nearly a thousand times. The fuel prices fell sharply once the massive size of the Indian Ocean deposits were revealed, and then the Wall Street reported a bull market, further enticing the investors.

Then there were other companies. An agricultural company developed a new variant of sugarcanes that produced much more sugar, and this was a great boon for the ethanol producers and the helped lower the grain prices. Another agricultural company successfully developed a variant of wheat that thrived on arid climate with very little water, and that company made deals with USA, Australia and several African countries to plant their crops there, and they were hailed as the savior of the hunger-ridden Africa. With their wheat, entire tracts of savannahs and edges of the vast Sahara Desert could be farmed for millions of tons of wheat. Also, a failing communications company had somehow been revitalized, and managed to successfully set up hundreds of new communication towers across the east coast of USA, and the quality and reliability of their service quickly made them successful.

This kind of economic successes of several companies began to drive the economy toward a boom, but it wasn't enough. With so many jobs sent over to China and India, the US manufacturing sectors were suffering. It was at this time that something terrible and tragic happened in China. The Sichuan province, a large and powerful province of the People's Republic of China stretched over 485,000 km2 with population over 80 million people, generating GDP of nearly $340 US dollars, had suffered yet another massive earthquake, and this time it was bigger even than the one in 2008. For nearly 8 minutes, an earthquake of Richter Scale 8.5 shook the very foundations of the ground that the people lived on. The result of the 8 minute hellish nightmare followed by fourteen separate aftershocks devastated not just the Sichuan province, but nearby provinces as well, and 'somehow' resulted in the failure of the mighty Three Gorges Dam, which just happened to be quite full after two weeks of constant massive rain that was out of season. The dam collapsed, and washed down everything in its wake. The effects were felt even in Shanhai, and though it survived most damaging impacts, China's main industrial base had been critically distraught over the natural disaster. Of course, amid the panic, no one was wise enough to find the fragments of C4 on Three Gorges Dam, hidden by the psychic shroud, and no one detected the strange and powerful pulse of psychic energy shooting into the sky from a mountain in Sichuan province a week before the massive rain started.

With the aftershocks strangely spreading through the mainland China, particularly near the Yangtze River, many companies began to move out from China, fearing another devastating earthquake and flooding. It was strange that the owners and CEOs of such companies were suffering some sort of anxiety attack over the safety and security of their factories, no one really picked up on that. After all, the new media quickly changed their focus to the sudden rise in ultranationalists in Russia, and thefts of nuclear warheads by the Russian mafia. In Africa, several more countries, previously thought stable, were suddenly embroiled in terrible civil wars, and tribes began attacking and killing each other over even the smallest insults. In Europe, there were troubles as well. In France, the racial tensions began to grow as several companies went bankrupt suddenly, and the economic pressure had been building up until it turned into a race riot sparked off by a French cop shooting one of the protesters. Although nobody knew this crazy police officer was, the riot started anyway. In Germany, a new wave of Neo-Nazi supporters began to infiltrate the most disgruntled of the poorest Germans, who longed for that mythical 'good days'.

* * *

**Earth**

**Washington State**

**14 months after defeat of Taskforce 999 in Russia**

Meanwhile, near the Naval Air Station Whidbey Island, a.k.a NASWI, there was a small building that bordered on the very edge of the military base. It was not a magnificent structure, but looked more like a shabby shack built sturdily but without too much money invested into it. It had a door, and several holes near the door. That was it. There was no path to it that could be followed by a car, but a narrow footpath that wound themselves deep into the woods and to come out near the State Route 20.

This seemingly innocent structure was anything but, and to enter this structure required the person to track through the footpath, only to come out near an electrified fence with a wooden gate, which actually had an electronic keypad. Once you cross a suspiciously wide open area to reach the structure despite the strange tingling feeling as if there were a dozen snipers hiding among the trees aiming at your head, you would find the door locked. Now, if you knew the special button hidden somewhere, the door would unlock, and when you enter, you would find yourself inside a small dark space about the size of a closet. Then you would suddenly be showered with brilliant light that sizzled in temperature, then you would find a holographic qwerty keyboard and a large number pad then a retinal scanner. Once you pass them, the whole space would fall down in great speed only to have the elevator stop deep under ground.

At floor B09, the elevator would move sideways for a minute or so before opening up to four automated miniguns staring at you and spinning at high speed. It is only then you would see another person, who would stare at you from fifteen meters away behind a window of thick bulletproof glass. After you pass the inspection, you walk across a metal walkway, then walk down the stairs to reach the main floors of the Taskforce 999's main training and research base. There, Colonel Hayes and Doctor Tinswood watched as the elite soldiers of Taskforce 999 train and prepare for a warfare far beyond the ken of most nations. Clad in black armored suits that somewhat resembling the Nanosuit from Crysis series, but of much lesser quality or finish. The titanium/aluminum/steel/carbon-fiber alloy frames were mostly bare but there were enough artificial muscles to add strength.

Colonel Hayes nodded as he watched the new teams assemble.

"What do you think?" He asked.

"This is good. I dare say the men are ready." Jake Adams replied, flexing his armored fingers.

Jake was wearing the crude nano-suit that the scientists of this dimension had only glimpsed through the veil between parallel dimensions. It was nothing like the original nano-suits worn by the warriors in the Crysis-dimension. The artificial muscle was much simple and lacked the nano machines that allowed its miraculous powers. It did have micro-machines, which were about as big as a single grain of sesame, but even with that, the improvements were clear. The tiny motors and artificial muscles allowed the wearer of the armor to lift almost 100kg more and speed and endurance were enhanced by 25% on average. Although they lacked the heavy armor mode which would have been great against the enemy attacks, and they lacked the cloaking ability, this version of nano-suit was still much better than nothing.

The weight was a problem though. The titantium-aluminum alloy frame was light, particularly with carbon-fiber and super-light plastic making up the joints and any parts that they could replace the metal. Added with the artificial muscle, the total weight of the armor reached almost 50kg, but the frames and the artificial muscles held their own for about half that weight. Still, carrying around 25kg was a heavy burden on the soldiers, and the scientists were forced to make lighter variants for the non-psionics. The Alpha Psionics, such as Jake and his teams, had enough psionic energy and training to enhance their physical prowess to a degree, no matter their specialty. Jake Adams could lift up to 200kg for up to ten minutes, which would be impossible for a normal human, but focusing his considerable power of mind, he could do super-human feat, particularly if he is wearing his nano-suit. The Beta Psionics did not have the psionic power to enhance their body to such degrees but they could keep their bodies at peak levels, and they could be enhanced by the nano-suit. For the Beta Psionics, the armor's weight was reduced to 38kg, the armor taking half the weight upon itself. For the rest of the Taskforce 999, they were given the 30kg armor, which was considerably less impressive than their heavier counterparts.

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**END OF CHAPTER 26**


End file.
